Khorasan sourdough will be one of the many breads that will be sold at Brills Bakery, set to open this summer at 27 Summer St. in Wiscasset. Father-daughter duo Emily Clark and Steve Brill bake a variety of breads and pastries that they are excited to share with the community. (Photo courtesy Emily Clark)
Warm smells of freshly baked bread, ready-to-go pastries, and a cozy atmosphere is to be expected at Brill’s Bakery. With the intentions of opening either in June or July, Emily Clark and her dad Steve Brill plan on bringing a range of baked goods to their storefront at 27 Summer St., the former home of Lilac Cottage Antiques.
Clark said that after baking for so many years and after her dad picked up “some mean sourdough skills,” that they decided it was time to open up their own bakery. When she is not perfecting her focaccia recipes, Clark is doing data analytics for OnX Analytics Services. Her dad is retired.
“We’re pretty thrilled,” Clark said.
Brill’s Bakery will be featuring both Clark and Brill’s specialties. Clark said that she will primarily be a variety of focaccia and international baked goods such as shio pan, a Japanese recipe with fluffy dough. Brill will focus on sourdough varieties, such as his molasses oat porridge sourdough recipe. Clark said that her dad’s Japanese milk bread is also very popular.
“It’s really fun to learn from the wisdom of different cultures and how they build their recipes and the different ways they approach ingredients,” Clark said.
The idea to open a bakery came from spending Thanksgiving with her family, Clark said. More than 30 family members gathered for the holiday, where she and Brill make baked goods for everyone. With the evolution of their baking skills, she said that the two of them wanted to share their breads and pastries with those beyond the family.
The bakery will be prioritizing shopping local, especially by purchasing from Maine Grains, an organic and heritage grain supplier based in Skowhegan, to get their ingredients.
“It’s not a contract or anything formal with Maine Grains, more that we purchase their flour more often than not and will prioritize using that,” Clark said.
Before starting this process, Clark said that she and her family lived in Bath and didn’t plan on leaving any time soon. It was when the former Lilac Cottage Antiques was put on the market that she said “checked every single box possible,” for setting up a bakery.
Half of the building will be dedicated to where they bake and the other half will be used to show customers what baked goods are being offered.
Clark said that even before Brill’s bakery was an idea, the Brill family had been baking since the early 1900s in Philadelphia. Her family’s long history of baking is why the store uses their last name.
“It’s been thrilling to be able to build on that sort of family history,” Clark said.
Since Brill’s Bakery will be primarily pickup, there will not be any seating inside. Clark plans on having blankets on hand in the store for those who want to grab a baked good, borrow a blanket, and then head across the street to have a picnic.
As they wait to open their doors, Clark has been offering samples of menu items like sticky buns and has been bringing in different community members to view the space. Once business is up and running, Clark said that she dreams of having events featuring their baked goods and hopes to supply offerings for others’ events. In February, Clark hosted a Galentine’s Day event, where guests could decorate their own cakes.
“We have loved how Wiscasset really engenders the small community,” Clark said. “Everybody knows each other, and we want to be a part of that and build on that.”
The exact hours of business are not set yet, but Clark said that she hopes it will be from early morning to mid-afternoon, four to five days a week. When they are not open, Clark and Brill will be busy baking and prepping their breads, pastries and sweet treats. Sometimes, this process can start as early as 3 a.m.
For updates on Brill’s Bakery, check out their Instagram account at @brillsbakery.
