Rest & Rise Bakery Brings Fresh Bread to Newberg

Sue Hutchinson found herself sharing bread around her day job office when she began to hear a familiar refrain: “You should sell this.”

Hutchinson, a Marine veteran, previously had dreams of opening a full bakery in Newberg. But when it came down to it, the numbers just didn’t add up. Renting commercial kitchen space to bake products that didn’t have very long shelf lives was a tough puzzle to figure out, especially with a bakery that’s just starting out. 

Fortunately, a law passed in 2015—and reinforced in January 2024—provided the breakthrough Hutchinson needed. This legislation paved the way for Rest & Rise Bakery, specializing in bread and biscotti, to operate out of Hutchinson’s Newberg home.

Rest & Rise Bakery isn’t Hutchinson’s first experience baking in Newberg. She owned and operated The Biscotti Shop from 2009 to 2011, and briefly served as the scone maker for Coffee Cottage in 2013.

However, she relocated to Pennsylvania in 2017 to support her family, putting her baking aspirations on hold.

“When I thought about the idea before, there was no way it could work, financially,” she said. “Renting a commercial kitchen, or renting space and outfitting it with my own commercial equipment—it would be so expensive and difficult with the low margins of baking.”

However, the implementation of Oregon’s Cottage Food Law in 2016 changed the landscape. This law permitted food businesses to operate within residential dwellings without facing stringent Department of Agriculture regulations. It offered a pathway for small food enterprises to transition into commercial production without the burdens of establishing a traditional storefront.

“This is kind of revisiting an old dream I had last time I lived in Newberg,” she said. “It feels like the right place and the right time for this idea to flourish.”

Hutchinson started promoting her new project, Rest & Rise Bakery, on social media in March 2024, with most of the early orders  from friends and family. But in the past few weeks, she’s seen an uptick in followers and orders. 

“I didn’t know what to expect when I started,” Hutchinson said. “But I’m getting some pretty consistent orders. There are repeat customers. There are more people following [social media]. It’s exciting—a little scary, but mostly exciting.”

Rest & Rise Bakery offers an assortment of products, ranging from classic Italian bread and French baguettes to specialty recipes like dill bread, tomato and basil boule, and seeded multigrain. Hutchinson is particularly passionate about incorporating seasonal ingredients into her creations.

“There are some ingredients I just can’t get locally, like wheat,” she said. “But we’re surrounded by so much. If I can grow it, I’ll likely use it in a recipe.” 

One such creation in development is basil pesto bread, utilizing basil cultivated indoors during colder months. Hutchinson’s family favorites, including chocolate croissants, are also slated to join the bakery’s offerings.

“If my daughter could subsist on pain au chocolat, I think she would,” Hutchinson said. “I feel like I owe her some as a thank you for letting me bake all the time.”

While Rest & Rise is primarily focused on bread products, sweet side options are in the works as well. Croissants are one sweet-side baked good she plans to offer in the future to supplement her supply of biscotti.

“Making biscotti is pretty expensive,” she said. “Cutting and dipping each one by hand, then packaging — it can be tedious, but very worth it.”

The plan for Rest & Rise isn’t a large menu of sweet baked goods, she said. There are plenty of businesses in town already doing that, she said, and doing that well.

Instead the plan is far more aligned with making bread for the people of Newberg, feeling the sense of home that comes with connecting with the community, and getting the time and flexibility to spend more time with her two children. 

“The more I do it, the more I love it,” she said. “It’s the community — I get to chat with people as they pick up bread, talk about recipes, get to know people in town. It’s really made me feel back at home.” 

While the goal is for the bakery to grow, Hutchinson said she is going to be methodical about any plans to move into a commercial bakery. 

“It can be really easy to fall into a lease at a brick-and-mortar but not have the actual finances to back it up,” she said. “There’s always a chance I can run a brick-and-mortar bakery in the future, but right now I’m just learning as much as I can. And really enjoying it.”

Rest & Rise Bakery is currently pre-order online only, offering a rotating selection of breads and biscottis. Customers place preorders through the Rest & Rise website, Hutchinson bakes the orders on Tuesday, and customers pick them up from her when they’re ready. While Rest & Rise currently has one bake day per week, Hutchinson said she hopes to add a second during the summer. 

Learn more by visiting Rest & Rise’s website and subscribe to its newsletter for upcoming bread releases.