New bakery, deli coming to downtown
April 3, 2024
A baker with years of experience is opening a sourdough bakery and deli in downtown Sioux Falls.
Conner McMahan’s new North End Bakery & Deli is taking over the former ‘Brosia Bowl space in the Jones421 Building on North Phillips Avenue.
McMahan is planning to make four types of sourdough daily: white, multigrain, focaccia and English muffin. In addition, “every day will have a different specialty bread, and Friday and Saturday will have a few different options,” he said.
Think sun-dried tomato and polenta, amaranth grain and sunflower, quinoa, oat and honey, and volkornbrot, “a German rye and seeded bread that’s very dense,” McMahan said.
Breakfast and lunch sandwich options with what he calls “French and Italian influences” will be served on those breads.
There also will be soups and salads, and a grab-and-go case with a variety of options for customers who are looking for a quick takeout option. Eventually, he’ll likely expand into other baked goods like cinnamon rolls and quick breads.
Remodeling work started this week, and McMahan hopes to open in early May.
Customers will order at the counter and be able to look into the preparation and baking area. Seating is available throughout the first-floor marketplace of Jones421.
McMahan said his sourdough will be different from what customers might be accustomed to.
“I’m doing sourdough bread loaves. Traditional is kind of a football-shape, rustic loaves. In my experience, they don’t sell as well as rectangle loaves, so I’m doing that kind of bread.”
The texture also will be different.
“I’ve learned working in Sioux Falls that a lot of the customer base is not super thrilled with thick, chewy crust,” McMahan noted, adding that he will use pullman pans. “They have a lid over it, so a lot of the moisture stays in the loaf, which makes the crust much softer.”
Full-length loaves will be 16 inches, and customers will be able to buy half-loaves as well.
McMahan’s bread-making experience include stints at Breadico here and Ibis Bakery in Kansas City. He also has worked at M.B. Haskett Delicatessen, Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen and currently is at Parker’s Bistro.
For breakfast, North End Bakery & Deli sandwiches will include options like Eggs Benedip. That’s ham, folded eggs with cheese and aioli on toasted English muffin bread with a bearnaise sauce for dipping. The Smokey Mushroom will feature mushrooms from Dakota Mushrooms & Microgreens that McMahan will smoke in the bakery, along with folded egg, cheese and aioli on multigrain bread.
“Once I get the swing of things and get my service and everything figured out, I’ll run seasonal specials for breakfast and lunch every week.”
Lunch options will range from a muffaletta to what McMahan calls an antipasto salad sandwich, along with a vegetarian offering.
Sandwiches will come with fondant potatoes, which McMahan calls Crispy Boy Potatoes. They’re whole potatoes with the ends cut off, browned in clarified butter that’s seasoned with garlic and rosemary and then roasted with the addition of chicken or beef stock.
Grab-and-go options will include tubs of chicken or egg salad so people can make their own sandwiches.
With The Source Coffee Roastery + Taproom next door, North End Bakery & Deli won’t serve coffee, but it will have craft sodas.
McMahan is already talking with The Source about selling items like energy balls and granola bars there, and his bread is being featured at another business in the Jones421 Building at 421 N. Phillips Ave. Flying Santo Taco Bar is using telera rolls in its upcoming La Santorta sandwich for Downtown Restaurant Week, which starts Friday.
To start, hours at North End Bakery & Deli will be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with breakfast served from 8 to 11 a.m. and then lunch until 2 p.m.
McMahan said he’ll be there as early as 4 a.m., so customers will be able to pop in before the 8 a.m. opening.
