In the former home of Madison’s Arts + Literature Laboratory, Reverie Baking Co.’s storefront is almost unrecognizable. The building’s landlord received a grant from the city to replace the all-brick façade with a wall of windows, and now natural light floods into the space of the new tenant. Co-owned by Debbie Buchanan, Gwen Shales and Kyle Johnson, the bakery officially opened in April 2023 at 2021 Winnebago St.
Buchanan first met husband-and-wife Shales and Johnson while working as pastry chef at Mint Mark — a restaurant the couple co-owns, along with Johnson Public House and Kin-Kin Coffee. Although Buchanan’s professional focus was on pastry, she discovered a love for dough while making sourdough bread at home about five years ago. A neighbor urged Buchanan to start selling her loaves to friends, and from there her front-porch business took off, especially during the pandemic. During this time, Johnson and Shales were looking to re-home their small-batch coffee-roasting business, so they reached out to Buchanan about joining forces on a new project. Now, in addition to being the new home for Kin-Kin’s coffee roastery, Reverie serves coffee drinks, tea, house-made breakfast sammies, bread and seasonal scones daily.