Stephen Montoya
Alexis and Lance Misner sell their wares at 3701 Southwest Blvd., right on the Benbrook Traffic Circle.
The newly opened family-run and operated bakery named The Sour Boule Bakery & Cafe was an idea that rose like a loaf of bread from one local couple's home kitchen into a store front in just a little over a year.
This new spot is located in what was the former Busy B’s Bakery space at 3701 Southwest Blvd., just off the Benbrook Traffic Circle and just north of the now closed Edelweiss restaurant. The cozy 1,300-square-foot space has been revamped with new paint, flooring and, well, owners.
The duo responsible for this new bakery concept are the husband-and-wife baking team of Lance and Alexis Misner, both of whom basically quit their day jobs to turn into entrepreneurs and focus on their bakery business full time.
Pronounced “bool,” the name comes from a French term for bread that has been left out and resembles a crushed ball.
Before any of this was a reality, the duo began testing the market for their homemade baked goods at several North Texas farmers markets under the name “Misner Family Farms.” And, as it turns out, North Texans have a craving for something other than brisket and steak. It seems we also enjoy homemade baked bread and cookies as well. So much so that the Misners actually sold out in just four hours at their first farmer’s market nearly a year ago.
But none of this would’ve happened if Lance hadn’t had a craving for homemade sourdough bread a few years back. In an attempt to satisfy her husband’s appetite, Alexis began a baking journey that seemed to grow as much as the starter she was trying to create.
“I just started looking up how to do sourdough in my free time,” Alexis said. “My husband mentioned something about doing it in a bag of sorts, like a trash bag, but I insisted we try doing it in a bowl.”
The Misners made their first starter in several bowls consisting of flour and water, a recipe that still hasn’t changed. From there, Alexis and Lance said they began making more and more loaves, eventually expanding their baking expertise with each batch.
After several months of doing in-home bakes, the Misners moved on trying to sell their baked creations at local farmers markets. For their first outing, the couple made a conservative 20 loaves of bread, which sold out during their first pop-up. Their second pop-up rendered the same result, as did their third.
That continued to happen again and again, which planted the idea that they might be able to do a little bit more with their newfound success. Alexis, who was an operating partner with Whataburger, and Lance who is an electrician by trade, both made the decision to double down on their business, eventually creating a fresh bread and cookies delivery service.
However, the strain on the in-home kitchen and hours spent delivering orders would soon take on a life of its own.
“We're doing them in bowls one at a time laid out across our tables in our kitchen,” Lance said. “It took us about three hours of mixing everything and then it takes eight to 12 hours depending on the bread and the temperature for it to bulk ferment [which begins when the mixing ends and lasts until the dough is divided and pre-shaped]. After the dough bulk ferments, it gets a second rise and is then rolled out and shaped for another two to three hours. From there, the bread bakes for 45 minutes.
“We were only baking three loaves at a time,” he said. “So, yeah, it was a multiple day thing.”
Stephen Montoya
Business in the first week of being open was "absolutely amazing," Alexis said.
To top this off, the couple were also doing home deliveries every day, which they pulled back to only Tuesdays and Thursdays. With delivery orders ramping up and time being a factor, the duo began looking for space to expand their business.
“After we wound up putting an extra set of ovens in our house and then two more freezers and a small armory's worth of bowls and mixers, it was like this is too much,” Lance said. “That's kind of what I think the driving force was behind finding this place.”
And much like the luck of their burgeoning business, the Misners found a former bakery that had just closed on the West Side of Fort Worth as a potential spot. This along with a name change from “Misner Family Farms” to The Sour Boule was also a game changer that highlights what the Misners’ business is best known for — fresh baked goods.
“This spot was just kind of happenstance,” Alexis said. “I was scrolling Facebook and I saw this post about this bakery actually, that was closing. And so, I kind of started looking into it a little bit more and we started making phone calls and it took us several months to actually get into this place.”
Now that the soft open is officially a week old, the bakery has the trappings of a bistro-style eatery coupled with the quaintness of a corner coffee shop.
The Sour Boule Bakery & Cafe has also partnered with Gold Tree Coffee. There is an entire section in this new bakery dedicated to showcasing all things coffee related, which I heard can go well with a sweet treat or two.
In addition to sourdough bread, The Sour Boule also has white sandwich bread, cinnamon-raisin bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, and hamburger buns. Loaves of bread start at $5 and top out at $15 for a rare gluten-free bread made from buckwheat, potato starch, and brown rice flour.
Several varieties of cookies are available including snicker doodles, lemon cookies, sourdough oatmeal raisin, and sourdough chocolate chip.
The Sour Boule also offers savory sandwiches made with freshly sliced Boar’s Head meats and cheeses.
The Misners’ delivery service is also back up and running with more details on The Sour Boule Bakery & Cafe Facebook page.
“We wanted to offer sandwiches, that way if you come in for breakfast and you need a lunch, you can grab a sandwich on the go,” Lance said.
When asked about the response from their week’s worth of patronage, Alexis replied, “absolutely amazing.”
“We thought we were prepared for our first Saturday. We were so blown away by how many people showed up,” she said. “I mean, it was standing room only like shoulder to shoulder in here, which was incredible. It was such an overwhelming feeling, not an overwhelming in a bad way, but like, oh, my goodness, the community is just so incredible.”