A taste of Europe… Happy Cow Bakery offers bread baked in traditional old-world European style

Published 6:00 am Monday, August 19, 2019

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
When people in the Tri-Cities think of a bakery, the first thing that pops into mind is freshly made doughnuts and sweet treats like cupcakes and cookies.
 
However, when one steps foot into the recently opened Happy Cow Bakery on Highway 91 in the former Big Dan’s Barbecue location, it will become pretty evident that there is an absence of the commonly expected bakery products.
 
Instead, customers will meet owners Stephen and Franziska Kramer who moved to Carter County two months ago from New Jersey after spending the last 15 to 20 years in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania to open their bakery which offers a taste of breads that are commonly found in the countries of Germany and France.
 
The inspiration for the Happy Cow came as a result of Franziska and Stephen spending time in Germany with her aging mother.
 
“Franziska and I met in Pennsylvania and have been married for four years,” said Stephen. “Franziska’s mom was getting older and she wanted to spend some time with her because Franziska has been living here a little more than 20 years in the United States.
“I have always had this passion for baking that was more of a hobby back then and I have always loved European bread, particularly the Rye bread.
A long time ago, I lived in Poland where I studied for three years and the first time I had the opportunity to taste really good bread was across the street from where I lived. 
“It was in this church,” Stephen continued. “There were a bunch of buildings on the church grounds and on the very end, there was this kind of building that sloped into the ground and there was this window with a bell.
“So you could walk over to that little window and ring the bell and the window would slide open and you would hand them your money and they would hand out a loaf of Rye bread. It was just a small window. No markings or anything and it was the best bread ever.
“In 2016, we decided to move to Germany to spend time with Franziska’s mom just outside of Dresden. So we sold our house, took the dog, took the car and the whole thing.
“I got this amazing job at this huge Germany bakery where they baked a lot of Rye bread and it was a great learning experience,” said Stephen. “Their bread baking is so different from the United States and even France’s. Germany has its own identity in bread baking.
“I got to work with all these master bakers and tried to absorb as much as possible. Eventually, at the end of the year, we decided to come back and I thought you know I would like to make this more of a career than just a hobby.”
So after returning to the states, the Kramer’s put plans into action and finally were able to open their bakery in New Jersey. However, the couple felt a calling to relocate to another part of the country to escape the fast-paced life of the area in which they lived.
“We decided to open our bakery up in New Jersey and it went really well. Always in the back of minds, we knew that we didn’t want to stay in New Jersey,” Stephen said.
“We had been there for a very long time but we really yearned for more space, less congestion, fewer people, and we really like hiking and love the outdoors and we discovered this area and came down and found a house and thought long and hard about it and said as a final move where do we want to end up.
“We decided after a lot of deliberation and going out to different places like Seattle, upstate New York, and really all over and after we discovered East Tennessee and this was like Heaven on Earth as it has everything.
“There are beautiful mountains and super-nice people so this is where we decided to make our final home,” Stephen commented. “We bought a home down here over a year ago.”
The Kramers made their move to their new home here in Carter County but still had not identified a location to establish a bakery. It was not until Stephen picked up the newspaper that a whole new door opened to the couple and began a fresh, new journey.
“We didn’t have a place to keep a bakery so three months ago we were working on the house and I was reading the paper and I saw an article about Big Dan’s Barbecue moving to downtown Elizabethton,” stated Stephen.
“I said to Franziska, “I believe that’s the place down the mountain.” We drove down and Big Dan was down here actually physically moving his stuff out and we talked to him and he put us in contact with the landlord and that’s how we ended up down here.
“We packed up all the bakery items and set up shop. That’s really how we ended up down here.”
The Kramers hope that their bakery will present a different opportunity for their customers as the products they offer are made in a way to be more nutritional for the consumers. 
“Our business model is a little different. New Jersey was a little more bread centric and here we are a little more diversified with desserts.
We are trying to bring nutritious and wholesome bread that is baked the old way. We basically have a small mixer and an oven and everything else is handwork,” Stephen added.
“We use long, cold fermentation and extract as much flavor out of the dough as possible. All of our flours are non-bleached and try to offer something really different from store-bought bread. A bread that is more crusty and leavened that has a lot of nutritional value.”
The business name is unique in its own right, but Stephen said it came about in the most simplistic of ways.
“So Franziska loves animals and every time we are driving she always is saying look at those happy chickens, look at those happy cows and that is literally how we got the name for our bakery,” Stephen said. “The Happy Cow Bakery was really attributed to my wife’s love for animals for them to live freely and happy and that’s what we are kind of doing here too.
“We just want to make an honest day’s living doing what we do and have a happy place for people to come and enjoy our products.”
While there are some customers who come into the bakery that are familiar with the European breads and celebrate the bakery being up and running, there is a whole new group of people who are just being introduced to the style of bread.
The results have been remarkable good after trying the various breads and bagels offered.
“Business has been good,” Stephen stated. “A lot of people are really happy that we are here. They have been abroad and have seen these types of breads before and are really excited about them.
“For a lot of people, these are completely new products. Maybe they have had only the opportunity to buy soft store-bought bread and so it’s new for them.
“Some of their comments are if we sell doughnuts,” Stephen continued. “We are not really that type of bakery. We don’t have the frying capability here so our product makes us more toward the European breads like if you traveled to Germany or France this is something you would see these types of breads and desserts in the window.
“We don’t have doughnuts or cupcakes–we are more of a traditional bakery.”
The Kramer’s have been experimenting with their hours of service and thanks to their customers are making changes so as to meet the demands and needs of those faithful customers.
“Saturday’s are always strong for any type of bakery because people have time to go out and explore. What we are really trying to do is build more clientele during the middle of the week so we offer lunch sandwiches,” Stephen said about the prime opportunity to serve the public.
“We were originally opened from 8 am to 2 pm but we discovered from feedback that work times in this area really start at 8 am so we were missing the breakfast window. We advanced that to 7:30 am. 
“So we hope that we can accommodate those people because some people commented on Facebook that they wished we were open earlier because I can’t get there in time for work.
“We are trying to open now at 7:30 am to accommodate those people who want to come to get a bagel sandwich of egg, cheese, and ham.
Hopefully, that’s far enough in advancement but if we not we can advance the time a little more if that doesn’t work.
“We do offer lunch. We realize there’s a technical school next door and a business park beyond that and a lot of people who pass by who live in the area and we are just outside the city limit so it’s nice to come here,” continued Stephen.
“We have plenty of parking and a nice mountain view and outdoor seating so we are hoping that will be a nice play if people want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown and enjoy the mountain view.”
 
Franziska says that the move to Carter County was exactly what the couple were hoping and dreaming it would be. The area is similar in a lot of ways that her hometown in Germany was and is a whole lot less stressful than life in the Northern states was.
“Where do I start? It’s just beautiful. I grew up in Germany in the suburbs. It’s just more entune with gardening and having chickens and I just think that this is the way to do life,” Franziska said with a glowing smile.
“Coming from up north, the Northern corridor is just so busy and people are too busy at times to be courteous and talk to one another to remember how easy it is to make it more pleasant around one another including yourself.
“Here it aligns with our values,” she continued. “It’s beautiful and the people here appreciate the beauty that surrounds them. We love there are niceties which can make your day better when people are friendly and can make you smile and I think that’s the essence of life.
“Then you have your clean, fresh air, clean water, and no trash on the road. It is a simplified, not less complicated way of living and it’s wonderful because it doesn’t have to be complicated.
“And you honor your neighbor. I haven’t been here that long but all I can say is it’s beautiful,” added Franziska. “This morning coming to work I thought I am going to drive exactly 40 miles per hour and I am going to take my time and I am going to look around and enjoy. 
“I think you have to kind of want that to appreciate that. I don’t think that everyone would appreciate it especially those that wanted to live in the city, but it’s exactly for me. It’s very simple–it’s a simplified place. 
“A smile is free and it can make someone’s day.”
That is exactly what Happy Cow Bakery wants to bring to its customers and Carter County–a smile.

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