Love of baking leads to Bad Dog venture

When the construction industry in the Flathead Valley hit the skids a couple of years ago, Bigfork contractor and electrician Dan Foster found himself struggling to find work and pay the bills.

He and his wife, Monique, always have loved to cook and bake, so they decided to begin baking for a living.

In mid-October the Fosters opened Bad Dog Bakery in Kalispell.

Their business is mostly wholesale and delivery, but customers can purchase baked goods at the bakery in the basement of The Boiler Room at 525 Eighth St. E.

People also can buy Bad Dog Bakery products at The Boiler Room, Cravings Bakery in Bigfork and Priscilla’s Pour House in Bigfork.

Dan makes regular deliveries to retail outlets and has a route of sorts, making deliveries to various businesses. He’s always out selling the product, too, making calls on businesses that might turn into regular customers.

In the near term, the Fosters plan to focus on the delivery and wholesale sides of the bakery, with an eye toward a possible retail expansion later.

They plan to sell their goods at farmers markets and similar events this summer and fall.

“I feel I need to make 1,000 of something to feel I’m good at it,” Monique said while mixing up a batch of dough for bread on a recent afternoon. By her count, that was about No. 500 for the particular mix she was tackling.

Everything at Bad Dog Bakery is made by hand, although Dan says he had to buy a commercial mixer to knead the dough so they could keep up with demand. Kneading by hand simply takes too long, he said.

“I usually end up taking it out of the mixer and tossing it by hand at least a few times,” he admitted.

They buy as many ingredients as possible from local sources, including eggs from Hedstrom Dairy, butter from Kalispell Kreamery and flour from Wheat Montana.

None of the ingredients come out of a can, Monique said. If they can’t find fresh fruit, they use either dried or frozen.

The bread choices range from sourdough to kefir to specialty breads such as garlic, sun-dried tomato and mini-loaves.

Kefir is a style of sourdough that originated in Mongolia 5,000 years ago, Dan said. They’d been growing kefir at home for about three years to use in baking and use a starter from that batch at the bakery.

Bad Dog Bakery’s bagel lineup is large and includes blueberry, bacon cheddar, cherry, sesame, garlic, onion and plain.

If your tastes run on the sweet side, there’s plenty to choose from. Customer favorites have already emerged and included cinnamon rolls, cream puffs and fruit hand pies. Hand pies are tiny pies, essentially a single serving, but still round. The menu also includes five types of cookies and several muffins.

They bake a flourless nut torte sold by the slice or whole. The same holds for their almond fruit torte.

Bad Dog’s hamburger buns are purposely baked to be a little denser than a typical bun, Dan said. “That way you don’t have to worry about a drippy sandwich,” he said.

Customers may order cakes, pies and quiches for special occasions.

The bakery is named in honor of the Fosters’ yellow lab, who was an overzealous puppy.

“She’s not a bad dog, but we said ‘bad dog’ to her constantly,” Monique said. Their business logo features a dog chasing its tail while running in a circle.

The Bad Dog Bakery is in the basement of the building that houses The Boiler Room coffee shop, the boiler room for the old Kalispell hospital. The phone number is 249-9940. The bakery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays and Fridays, the Fosters are open later, until at least 5 p.m., and sometimes as late as 6:30 p.m., depending on any special orders they need to finish for the weekend.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.