'Always Been The Plan': Hewn Bakery Plans Third Location In Former Coin Shop In Winnetka

WINNETKA, IL — The Evanston bakery widely recognized as the area's best is expanding its North Shore operations with a second satellite location.

Hewn Bread was founded back in 2013 by co-owners Julie Matthei, the business director, and Ellen King, the baking director, opening its first location at 810 Dempster St.

It then moved to its current headquarters at 1733 Central St. in 2020 and, last year, opened up its first satellite location at 348 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville.

King and Matthei aim to open their next location at 964½ Green Bay Road in Winnetka, a 700-square-foot storefront across from the Hubbard Woods train station.

Hewn representative have been meeting with Winnetka village officials in recent weeks, King told Patch. They have already applied for permits and hope to start building out the spot soon.

---

No opening date has been officially set, but King said an early fall opening is "realistic."

The Hewn Bread co-owner said the new Winnetka location will lead to three to four new hires, depending on business hours, which are tentatively set for 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday and until 3 p.m. on weekends.

"The Evanston location has a very large back kitchen where everything is baked early every morning," King said in an email, "and it has always been the plan to open outposts in different communities and have all the production be done at the Evanston location."

King credited architect Julie Fisher from Chicago-based FC Studios, who designed the Central Street location, with being "instrumental in helping bring our vision to life."

---

In 2022, Food & Wine Magazine declared Hewn produces the "region's most inspiring bread" and listed it as the best in Illinois. The magazine had previously named the bakery to its list of 100 best bakeries in the country.

Hewn was also named among the "absolute best bakeries in Chicago" by Thrillist in 2021 in a list mostly made up of pastry shops.

Hewn's future Winnetka location was previously the home of Bick's Coins, which closed up shop permanently at the start of the year.

John Bickmore, owner of the coin shop and a longtime member of the North Shore Coin Club, moved his business from Northbrook in 1983. Bickmore said owning the coin shop had been "certainly an adventure."

Starting in 1970, Bickmore also managed an early recycling program on the North Shore, later running it out of the Bick's basement.

"We started in Highland Park, and after a while we had Glencoe and Lake Forest and Deerfield and Winnetka, and Wilmette and Evanston, North Chicago, so on," Bickmore told Patch.

"It was a new idea," he said, recalling sometimes people would bring their material to be recycled to the shop, in addition to the various drop-off points he had arranged.

"That was another adventure, and the office for all that was in the basement," Bickmore said. "It was always something new. Christopher Columbus discovered America and I discovered whatever mess came in."

Earlier:

• Hewn Bakery Brings Artisan Breads, Community To Dempster Street
• City Council Endorses County Tax Break For Bakery's Expansion
• 'Thinking Outside The Box': Hewn To Open Second Location
• Grand Opening Of Hewn In Libertyville Set For Thursday