Winnetka celebrates arrival of Hewn with ribbon cutting, ‘Great British Bake Off’ contestant

After opening up Hewn, a rustic bakery that specializes in made-from-scratch bread, as well as pastries and sandwiches, co-owner Ellen King said that the Evanston-based bakery received several offers from different nearby communities to open additional locations. But King, and fellow co-owner Julie Matthei, wanted to wait until they found the “right fit.”

They found that recently in Winnetka, where Hewn debuted its new location at 894 Green Bay Road this year. The Winnetka location is Hewn’s third; after the original Evanston bakery opened in 2013, King and Matthei also branched out to Libertyville in 2023.

The bakery had its official ribbon cutting on Thursday, Oct. 10, during an event that was attended by representatives from the Village of Winnetka, the Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Chamber of Commerce, and Hewn friends and customers.

“We have, in this Village, been yearning for a bakery,” said Terry Dason, the president of the Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Chamber of Commerce. “To have the finest bakery in the area open in our Village is beyond any dream that we could have ever wished for.” 

King said that the idea to open in Winnetka came to them from Village of Winnetka Economic Development Director Liz Dechant. Dechant emailed King approximately two years ago, and asked if the bakery would be interested in expanding to the town. 

“We’ve been working really hard to fill our spaces, and that doesn’t go unnoticed by the Village of Winnetka,” Dason said. “Their people are working very hard to pull new businesses into our community.”

Winnetka’s downtown area was what appealed to King and helped contribute to her desire to move into the village.

“I always want to be in a developed, historic downtown that has a culture and a history of small business,” King said. “That’s exactly what this was, and it fit exactly what we were looking for.”

With Hewn’s Evanston and Winnetka locations only 4.4 miles apart, King was initially worried that they were too close. But after considering how many of their customers drove to Evanston from other North Shore communities, King and Matthei decided it was a “much more viable option.”

All of the baked goods sold at each of Hewn’s locations are prepared and baked in the Evanston location, and delivered to the other shops. King said that opening in Winnetka served as an ideal midpoint between the Evanston and Libertyville locations.

“Everything that we have available in Evanston will be available [at the Winnetka location],” King said. “You can come in and get coffee and espresso, loaves of bread, baguettes, challah on Fridays. Because we make everything, it’s a two-day process of making stuff, so when we sell out, we’re sold out until the next day.”

The ribbon-cutting event was also attended by Jürgen Krauss, a contestant on Series 12 of “The Great British Bake Off,” which aired in 2021. The bakery also hosted several events with Krauss throughout the week, including a panel discussion at North Shore Country Day School about crafting connections through baking, as well as a ticketed pretzel-making and bread-baking class at Hewn’s Evanston location.

“I wanted to have an event where I could learn something from him, and we could hang out and have fun,” King said. 

Krauss said that he has enjoyed seeing how Hewn has become part of the larger community in Evanston, and that he appreciated the opportunity to talk to an American audience about baking.

“It’s really been a lot of fun, and I can see how Hewn has integrated into the community in Evanston,” Krauss said. “It’s great being on stage with Ellen, and talking about flours, and baking processes, and getting into baking and history.”

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