On a morning in downtown Sandpoint, few stops feel more welcoming than Bluebird Bakery. The bakery and cafe sits at 329 North First Avenue, at the corner of First Avenue and Cedar Street, and its own website lists it as open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For Schweitzer visitors heading up the mountain or coming back down into town, and for locals starting their workday, it is a bright and lively place to begin with fresh baking and a hot drink.
Bluebird is the work of baker Jill Severson. Local reporting in the Sandpoint Reader tells her story: she first began baking in Seattle in 2003, after a chef she worked under inspired her passion for the craft, and her baked goods made their North Idaho debut at the Farmers' Market at Sandpoint in the summer of 2018. When that went well, she pursued her goal of a bakery of her own. Bluebird Bakery opened its doors on October 31 after ten months of renovations and preparations, and Severson set out to make it comfortable and inviting whether a guest was grabbing something to go or settling in with friends for a couple of hours.
What sets Bluebird apart is the care in the baking itself. Severson has said she takes particular pride in her laminated doughs, the flaky pastry doughs made of layer upon layer of thin dough and butter that are used to make croissants and danishes, and she has called that long process the most rewarding part of the work when it is done well. The Reader account also noted huckleberry vanilla danishes among the treats customers were taking to go, a fitting North Idaho touch. From the start, she looked for ways to source ingredients from the region, with flour from Cairnspring Mills in Burlington, Washington, which makes its products from sustainably produced Pacific Northwest grains.
Today the bakery keeps its promise simple and generous. Its website lists a full kitchen menu alongside fresh pastries and breads, with coffee, tea, and other beverages available. At its opening, its cases held loaves of bread and baguettes and pastries both sweet and savory, and the pastry case remains the heart of the room, watched over by the bakery's colorful logo on the wall. It is the kind of menu that works for a quick breakfast before a ski day, a relaxed brunch in town, or pastries to take back to the condo for the next morning.
You will find Bluebird Bakery at 329 North First Avenue in Sandpoint, Idaho 83864, open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Whether you live in Bonner County or you are visiting Schweitzer for the week, make time for a stop downtown. A warm pastry, a fresh loaf, and a good cup of coffee are a fine way to taste what Sandpoint does best.