Already having been in the kitchen for hours, Pastry Chef and Baker, Jan Kratzer is being guided by something between focus and deep subconscious muscle memory. His handiwork – and that of his quiet, calm yet quick-moving team – bake their way towards the 9 a.m. opening of LoDough Bakery in Dairy Block’s alley between the Milk Market and the Free Market. Laying out long strips of triangular cut pastry dough onto a prep table kissed by the morning sun, he effortlessly rolls the wedge-shaped flats into something more geometrically recognizable. A batch of croissants is almost ready for the oven. Hardly looking down at his craft, what was one and then two pastries quickly churn into a dozen and more while Kratzer details how he found himself here.
“This is our fourth year,” Kratzer reminisced. “ This space used to be a pizza-by-the-slice restaurant, and my former employer owned it. I used to bartend for them at another spot. When this place was shut down during the pandemic, we eventually moved in as LoDough Bakery. We’ve been here ever since.” The Austrian-born Kratzer is brief with his explanations and humble about LoDough’s success. For him, the details and the flair are reserved for the baked goods themselves. But beneath his unassuming demeanor is a success story born in taking advantage of trying times many of us can relate to.
He – like many – turned to YouTube and baking during the early days of the pandemic. Unlike many, it turned into his career. He does have a culinary background, and a more recent resumé in the Denver restaurant scene, but most of what is on display in LoDough’s pastry case each morning is the product of self-taught trials and tribulations during an abundance of free time.
“The first year, I just did a pop-up on Saturdays and Sundays. It pretty quickly developed into this full-size and full-time thing here. It did really well. It was just all at the right time,” he explained. If restaurants and their successes are a matter of good timing, then baking and boulangeries take that necessity for precision and turn it up a notch. A science and an art, making something like a simple baguette requires not only know-how and practice, but a keen sense for even the most seemingly minute of details.
“ We make everything now, other than our wholesale bread, with French flour. And I think that really makes a big difference,” Kratzer mused. “As soon as I tasted this flour, I switched everything over to it, which was kind of against my first idea to do everything local. But I found that local flour is not very reliable. There’s a lot more variety in it. And in my opinion, this new flour just tastes like home.” Along with his incredible staff and their willingness to always add new, exciting items to the menu, it’s in that taste of home – in that properly crafted European pastry – that sets LoDough apart from other Denver bakeries and pastry shops.
“Baguettes are my favorite,” answered Jan when questioned about his first choice from either the pastry case or the bread shelf, again referencing the baguette’s nostalgia in his roots. And indeed, the LoDough Bakery baguette is at the very least one of the best in town. But on any given morning, LoDough is offering a wide-ranging selection of pastries and loaves to choose from. Amongst sourdough, French baguettes and classic croissants, there are other staples, too, like the pain au chocolat, flaky on the outside and rich and creamy on the inside. The almond croissant – layered with crunchy almonds and sweetened with powdered sugar – is filled with decadent almond frangipane filling.
If a guest is looking for something altogether new, LoDough has plenty of that to offer as well. Take a summertime menu addition like the Cubano Croissant, filled with ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and shredded pork, glazed with a pickle simple syrup and speared with a cornichon to reinforce the sweet and tangy nature of the Cubano’s classic flavor profile. Not in the mood for savory? Try the current iteration of LoDough’s fresh-baked Pop-Tart. And if it’s a coffee you’re after, LoDough does that, too.
Even if you’re not near the Dairy Block, there’s a good chance you’re not far from a LoDough pastry or slice of bread. “ We have a few wholesale accounts. I think 11 or so, which are mostly Bonanno Concepts restaurants – we make all their bread. Then Bruz – they are a Belgian brewery on Colfax – we make their pretzels. And for Hello Darling, we make focaccia and pretzels as well.”
The next time you’re craving a pastry or looking for a perfectly baked loaf of bread, check out LoDough Bakery, or one of the menu bars, restaurants, breweries and coffee shops for which it also supplies its goods.
LoDough Bakery is located in the Dairy Block alley between the Milk Market and the Free Market at 1850 Wazee St., #150, Denver. Its hours are 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday – Sunday, but be advised that it often sells out of a lot of its products early.
All photography by Evan Dale