Bakery Owners Riding Rocket Of Support For Cozy Little Shop

Years ago, Jeff and Julia Postlewait had a friend who would drink only restretto - the intense, pure espresso made during the first 10 seconds of brewing. He’d add brown sugar and cream and toss it down.

“He referred to coffee as his ‘rocket fuel’ and we thought, ‘Hmmmm,”’ Jeff Postlewait said.

In 1992, Jeff and wife Julia opened Millwood’s Rocket Bakery, named for their friend’s love for coffee in its purest form.

Besides, said Julia, “there’s so many things you can do with rocket. You know, come in and blast off.”

Plenty of people have.

Three years after the opening of their funky bakery at 3315 N. Argonne, the Postlewaits have doubled sales and increased staff from zero (well, their mothers helped out in the beginning) to 11 full- and part-time workers.

“The first month, it was just a trickle,” said Jeff, “because espresso hadn’t hit Spokane.”

“But it steadily continued to grow,” said Julia.

Their continued devotion to the Rocket kept Julia working until just hours before their daughter Ellen’s birth. Last Nov. 22, Julia worked until 9 a.m. Ellen arrived at 1 p.m.

“(Ellen) had a good nine months of espresso training in utero,” Julia said.

“When she’s 2, it’ll be hers,” Jeff chimed in. “When she’s tall enough to pump the joe, that’ll be it.”

Now, the Postlewaits plan to open a second store. They found a site in another area of Spokane with a strong neighborhood feel - the Garland area on the city’s North Side. They anticipate opening a second Rocket within months.

The Rocket Bakery has a homey feel, with hand-drawn signs advertising delicious breads, scones and muffins. Two favorites, the owners say, are the espresso hazelnuts scones and the raspberry oat bars.

A chalk-drawn “glossary” explains how the many coffee drinks are made. For example, a “cafe mezzo” is half latte, half americano. The bakery’s trademark, said Jeff, is “velvet foam” - when the milk on a coffee drink is steamed to perfection.

“It’s his thing,” Julia said, smiling at her husband.

“We love to do this just to be in contact with people,” Jeff said.

Close contact with their regular customers is the benefit of having a shop in a cozy neighborhood, they say. Once two regulars came in and told them their house was for sale. That’s how the Postlewaits acquired their Maringo Drive home. And when Ellen was born, customers poured in with baby gifts.

“This table was just heaped,” said Jeff, shaping his hands over an imaginary mound on a table in the back room.

As Ellen took shaky steps back and forth between them, the two young entrepreneurs thought back over their years in the food business.

They both grew up in “cooking families.” Jeff’s mom was head cook for the East Valley School District for 16 years, and Julia’s parents were always heading up a church pancake breakfast or spaghetti dinner. Many of the bakery’s recipes come from family cookbooks.

“I guess we were just never afraid of the kitchen,” Julia said.

When the couple chose Millwood for their bakery three years ago, naysayers abounded. You’ll never make it in Millwood, they said.

But Jeff and Julia, graduates of East Valley and West Valley high schools, respectively, knew the Valley and wanted an area with a cozy feel.

Now, “people come in and tell us we should have this on the South Hill,” Julia said.

“And then we’d be really successful,” Jeff added with a smug grin. “We’ve heard that, I can’t tell you how many times.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Saturday’s People is a column featuring remarkable Valley people. To suggest subjects for future columns, please write The Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216, or call editor Mike Schmeltzer at 927-2170.