They’re baking up a storm at Tall Grass Prairie after storm closed their doors

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This article was published 18/06/2018 (2843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost three weeks after the rain on grain didn’t stay mainly in the drain, the sweet smell of baked goods will be wafting across Wolseley again.

The Tall Grass Prairie Bread Co., a Wolseley staple on Westminster Avenue, will reopen on Tuesday at 7 a.m. Torrential rain on May 30 leaked through the roof and caused damage on the first and second floors.

Tabitha Langel, one of the bakery’s four owners, said the damage caused by the deluge forced them to rip out drywall on the ceiling of the main floor, as well as walls and the linoleum on the two floors of the business.

Langel said they also had to have electrical work done, “tweak” their baking oven, paint walls and clean the entire business from top to bottom.

“I’m excited,” Langel said about the reopening.

“I’m so happy it is all done. We even had to have the oven pipes dismantled and put back together. Now the last people are here (Monday), the painters upstairs.”

Until the rain, Winnipeg had been experiencing one of the driest springs in the city’s history.

So much rain fell during a few hours that day, that some areas of the city received about 57 millimetres — what might fall during an average month of May.

Langel said the Tall Grass Prairie owners had insurance but she was still glad it was “clean rain water” and not sewer backup.

She said because she had to go to the business every morning to oversee the restoration she also met many customers who all told her they missed the bakery.

“The best story was when I met a couple from Madison, Wisconsin, who came with their four-year-old because they were told our bakery is a must tourist stop,” Langel said.

“When I said the bakery was closed, the four-year-old started crying. They said she was heartbroken because she was told they are the best cookies ever.

“I left some free cookies for her at the counter of our bakery at The Forks.”

Similarly, to thank their customers, Langel said everyone who visits the bakery Tuesday will walk away eating a free cookie.

But while the bakery, which opened in 1990, was busy baking cookies on Monday, before preparing to fire up bread production on Tuesday at 7 a.m., Langel said they will have the whole realm of baked goods available for sale including rolls and pitas, croissants and muffins, and pies, cakes and squares. The bakery will even have deli items for takeout.

“It’ll be good to get back to baking,” said Paul Langel, another of the bakery’s co-owners, in a statement. “We’re looking forward to welcoming back our regulars, our neighbours and our customers from across the city.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca