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RISE AND SHINE boat consisted of just her and the captain. “I
liked to cook, and he liked to eat.” Her appliance
was a small diesel stove, propane hot plate, and
Inside the Delectable Treats of Sweet Tides Bakery & Cafe a cooler. Sitting on the deck, they would eat
steak and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches,
which was a favorite. A bonus was that every
IN DOWNTOWN WRANGELL meal came with an incredible ocean view.
A few years later, Shawna was a cook on a
tender boat, which is a large boat that stays
put while all the other fishing vessels offload
their catch. Shawna had a much larger galley,
and made sure that all fisherman who came
to the tender left with cinnamon rolls, cookies,
or some type of pastry. The captain was a
traditional meat and potato person, and while
Shawna didn’t think she was that great of a
cook, the captain thought she was the best.
“It really inspired my love for cooking to have
people tell me my food was good.”
While killing time in between fishing jobs,
Shawna visited friends in Wrangell, where she
You will smell Sweet Tides Bakery before bake. The stars aligned because this unusual met her husband and decided not to get on
you ever see it. Aromas of sugar, cinnamon, space connected to a retail space at the front of that next fishing boat. Putting down roots in
and freshly baked bread draw customers in the building. When the retail store moved out, Wrangell involved baking wedding cakes after
like a force field pulling on your senses. It is Shawna converted the entire back portion into she found out there was no one in the town
a place where the coffee is fresh, the food is the kitchen and the front into a cafe. who could provide a cake for their wedding.
homemade, and the service makes you feel Shawna has always been about feeding Now, Shawna and her team at Sweet Tides bake
like you are family. Owner Shawna started people. She grew up in Washington State breakfast items such as cinnamon rolls, scones,
baking sourdough bread out of her home with nine brothers and sisters. Large families and breakfast burritos. For lunch, you will find
during the pandemic, then opened a small require large amounts of food, so she started sandwiches with homemade bread, baked
counter space with a back alley entrance in baking at a young age. In 2005 a good friend mac with pulled pork, salmon caesar salad, or
March 2022. “Customers literally had to wind had a commercial fishing boat and needed a halibut curry. And while there is no set menu,
their way through a dingy alley to the counter. deckhand, “I bought my crew license, bought customers can always find warm chocolate
People always wondered if they were going the the gear he told me I needed, which I didn’t chip cookies at the counter. “I work best with
right way.” Directly behind the counter was the have a clue what it all was, bought a plane ticket procrastination and I tend to not like recipes
full kitchen, where everyone could watch her and headed to Alaska.” The crew of this 34 foot because I don’t like being told what to do.” The
one thing Shawna never compromises on is the
quality and freshness of her food. She makes
everything in her cafe from scratch, including
the coffee syrups, croutons, mayonnaise,
salad dressings, and, of course, all the bagels,
sourdough, and hoagies. It is this desire to
make her cooking stand out that has customers
buying the entire pan of cinnamon rolls as soon
as they come out of the oven, and the reason
they had to expand their winter hours when
many businesses reduced for the season. “Each
day, the alarm goes off at 3:00 a.m. and I think
what sounds good today and I let inspiration
guide the menu. The thing that we pride
ourselves on at Sweet Tides is making things
from scratch, putting that home in homemade.”

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