Sweet North Bakery - Eats and Treats in the Waterfront District

The Sweet North Bakery
10 South Court St.
807-344-3430

Summer Hours: 
8:30am – 5:30 Tuesday and Friday 
8:30am – 8pm Wednesday and Thursday 
10:00 – 5pm Saturday
Closed Sunday & Monday

Sweet North

The astonishing success of the Sweet North Bakery is only going to improve. They have a secret that we’re happy to be the first to share. But before we get to that, you have to know that they don’t make bread or cakes or many muffins. They do bake pretzels, scones, sticky buns, truffles, cookies, puff pastries, brioche, tarts, and other smaller treats, much to the delight of the bakery’s quickly growing fan base.

In the Window

And I do mean quickly. Erinn DeLorenzi, who grew up around bakers and worked as a stay-at-home-mom did Christmas baking from home for ten years and then took on a job baking pretzels for the Sleeping Giant Brewing Company. When Erinn’s pretzels became incredibly popular only a couple years ago, she moved her operation to the Country Market located at the CLE Grounds.

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Shortly thereafter she and her husband Kris got a business loan and opened up their shop in the Waterfront District. As of this writing, that was only six months ago. Now they have ten employees, five of which are working full-time and Sweet North is looking to hire two more.

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Fud

Just as popular as the baking are Sweet North’s pretzel bun sandwiches. We only need to give you one example to get your heart racing and stomach feeling empty: the Hot Italian Sandwich. It is layered with marinara sauce, four meats (genoa, mortadella, capicola, and prosciutto), provolone cheese, pesto, wilted greens, with roasted red pepper and spicy vegetable anti-pasti. All but the meats and cheese are made in house. And the meats and cheese are locally produced.

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But the most popular sandwich is the successful attempt to make a Montreal Special, known as the Real Deal that simultaneously typifies the tastes of a New York deli; smoked meat with a fresh pickle and their own home-made mustard. That’s it!
They also cater to vegetarians and vegans, complete with gluten free baked goods, sandwiches and salads.

Featured Coffees

Coffees include vanilla porter latte, scull rock stout mocha, and a full range of properly made espressos.

Sunny Space

The big secret we get to announce is that with all the amazing success Erinn and Kris have had, they’ve been emboldened to invest in hiring a trained gelato-making expert along with the proper freezer storage units to contain the gelato they will soon be making in house. I predict they will have to extend their evening hours to accommodate the traffic. This is proper gelato! Not ice cream. It requires talent to make gelato and when it’s done right, people get addicted.

Fun Eats

The clientele that Sweet North has already attracted is basically everyone, from kids to their grandparents. It’s become a go to place, a regular hangout for many. The sunny space is a little bigger than a café with a high ceiling open to a smaller second floor. Local artist, Steve Godon, added charm with his tabletops and bar. And the walls are covered with original art.

Craft for Sale

Local craft works can be purchased here as well. Damon Dowback’s beautiful glass works from his Kleewyck studio and Tim Alexander’s pottery are for sale. First Nations artist, Jean Marshall, will have her work exhibited for the summer. And local musicians, including flamenco guitarist Matt Sellick and the amazing fiddler Pierre Schryer, will be performing off and on during opening hours.

Ordering

We’ll see you there.

About Duncan Weller

A writer and visual artist, Duncan Weller is a Governor General's Award winner who lives in Thunder Bay. You can visit his website at www.duncanweller.com. His latest two books are a novel, Flight of the Silk, and an expanded edition of the award-winning children's picture book, The Boy from the Sun.

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