Coupeville gets a bakery

Islanders with a hankerin’ for a schneckin, heart for a tart or a crush on croissants no longer have to drive to Langley to satisfy their appetites.

Coupe’s Village Bakery opened this week in Coupeville, offering all the tasty treats made famous by Langley Village Bakery. Both are owned by Tom and Maria Scott, who caved in to pressure from the Coupeville community to open a bakery in their town.

“People came to us from Coupeville two years ago and said they wanted a bakery,” Tom Scott said Thursday, sitting in his new Coupeville bakery. That visit by “five or six” Coupeville community leaders set in motion an effort that culminated with the opening of Coupe’s Village Bakery, located at the new Coupe’s Village development at 107 S. Main St.

The Scotts bought the Langley bakery five years ago. Although highly popular, it’s situated in a building that Tom Scott describes as “a shoebox.” Trying to meet demand in the tiny bakery was an exercise in cramped working conditions. Last Thanksgiving alone they took orders for 250 pies. “That’s a quarter of the population of Langley,” Scott said.

The new bakery in Coupeville is spacious by comparison, and much of the baking for both shops will be done there, although Langley will continue to bake many of its own products. The extra capacity allows the Scotts to reach out to other retailers. The new Big Cup Coffee shop in Oak Harbor offers their bakery products.

Coupe’s Village Bakery also offers more seating than Langley, which enabled Maria to expand their lunch menu for the Coupeville crowd. Many are familiar faces to the Scotts. “A lot of people drove down to Langley to get this stuff,” he said.

The bakery offers cheesecake, cinnamon twists, cookies, scones, tea cakes, turnovers, cinnamon rolls, bear claws and other tasty products. Most popular, according to barrista Michelle Perkins, is the schnecken, a sweet concoction that almost literally melts in your mouth. “It’s horrible,” she laughed. “We’re all going to gain weight!”

Perkins grew up in Oak Harbor and remembers when Chris’ Bakery closed about five years ago. “Everyone was devastated,” she said. Already, Oak Harbor residents have found Coupe’s Village Bakery. “Everyone is so happy!,” she said. “There’s finally a bakery!”

Maria Scott creates quick lunches out of ingredients at hand, so customers never get tired of the same thing. A variety of sandwiches on homemade bread are big sellers, as are polenta and lasagna. Thursday’s chicken enchiladas drew a big crowd. “It was insane in here,” said Perkins. “We almost ran out of dishes.”

Another employee, Sausha Branson, described the schneckin as the “house favorite,” while other big sellers are peach bear claws and peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies. They serve Caravali coffee, and all employees are well versed in the various drinks. “If you grew up on Whidbey Island you know what a cappucino and latte are,” Branson said.

The bakery crew arrives at 2 a.m. and baking continues all day long. Store hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 to 2 on Sunday.

Only a sandwich board marks the bakery’s location and so far there has been no advertising. “We wanted to break in slowly,” Scott said, shaking his head after an extremely busy lunch hour. That plan obviously didn’t work, and the Scotts realize those visitors two years ago weren’t kidding when they said Coupeville wanted a bakery.

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