A New Bakery Will Soon Open in Gardiner, Maine

If you’ve been walking around downtown Gardiner lately, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed someone working inside the windows at the corner of Water and Bridge streets.

And there’s a pretty good reason for all the activity.

According to an article on the KJ website, Kristen Lamontagne is getting ready to open Plum Bakery at 347 Water Street, the former home of Stonebroke Bread and Books.  If everything stays on schedule, she hopes to open during the first week of October.

Lamontagne says she’s already getting a lot of encouragement from people walking by. She regularly catches people peeking through the windows, waving and asking when the bakery will open.

Initially, Plum Bakery will be open from 9 AM to 2 PM Friday through Sunday, with Lamontagne running the operation herself.

And while she has worked in hospitality since she was 16, becoming a baker and opening her own bakery wasn't exactly the original plan.

Lamontagne studied English literature and never expected to become a business owner. That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when she started experimenting with sourdough while living in New York.

She spent an almost obsessive amount of time tending to her starter before finally making her first two loaves. They weren't exactly bakery-window material.

Lamontagne knew they were bad, but there was something about the process that hooked her. She wanted to learn everything she could.

After being laid off during the pandemic, she decided to pursue baking professionally and began contacting bakeries about apprenticeships. She eventually landed at a small Brooklyn market where the entire team consisted of just three people, giving her plenty of hands-on experience.

About a year ago, Lamontagne started thinking seriously about opening her own business. Her original idea wasn't a bakery at all. She wanted to open a pizza shop.

That plan ran into some logistical problems, however, and she started looking for a commercial space. That's when the owners of Stonebroke reached out to let her know they were leaving their Water Street location.

The timing turned out to be pretty perfect.

With Stonebroke closing, downtown Gardiner was about to lose its source for fresh bread. Lamontagne already lived in Gardiner and knew she wanted her business there, so the idea for Plum Bakery began to take shape.

The bakery will offer sourdough bread, baguettes and seasonal pastries, with locally grown ingredients worked into the menu whenever possible.

One item Lamontagne is particularly excited about is an oatmeal cream pie inspired by the classic packaged snack.

And Plum Bakery won't just be about grabbing a loaf of bread and heading home.

Lamontagne wants the space to feel comfortable enough that people will actually want to stick around. There will be seating, pantry items, products from local artists and antiques that she has collected and restored.

Eventually, she hopes to bring employees on board, expand the bakery's hours and even bring her original pizza idea back to life with pizza one night a week.

She'd also like to host pop-up meals and other events at the bakery.

For now, though, Lamontagne is focused on getting those doors open and getting bread back on the shelves in downtown Gardiner.

And judging by the number of people already peeking through the windows, it sounds like plenty of people are ready for that first loaf.