Welcome! In this episode of Edacious, we meet a former magazine art director turned baker. A man who used the skills acquired in his old career to set the look, feel, and intention for his current one, creating a new community in the process. I became acquainted with Brian Noyes of Red Truck Bakery when I wrote about him a few years back for Unite Virginia magazine. Flash forward to a farm dinner at Caromont where we became fast friends. It was SUCH a treat to sit with this busy man and talk. About cake, pie, the people we've met, and what it means exactly to take that extra step of care, whether it's writing thank you notes to customers or making sure that cake on your plate is the best you’ve ever had.
Brian’s attention to detail is so evident from the art on the walls to the sprinkle of salt atop the focaccia on my ham sandwich. Before we met he sent me a “How Do You Do?” cake! This level of curation makes every customer feel cared for whether they’re enjoying a Dutch streusel crumb apple pie at the shops in Warrenton and nearby Marshall or ordering a double chocolate cake to send to a loved one. I believe it stems from his previous career as an art director for the Washington Post, House and Garden, and Smithsonian magazines, among others, where an eagle eye is paramount to success.
Red Truck has won accolades from Garden & Gun, The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and countless others. With good reason. His Shenandoah apple cake brought tears to my eyes. And it’s not just pies and cakes. Both locations offer breakfast and lunch with muffins, biscuits, sandwiches and countless other goodies. His celebrated granola is the only cereal my picky friend will eat. I still dream about that sandwich and Brian’s chocolate cake is a constant request at family get-togethers.
There are guaranteed future honors because the Red Truck Bakery cookbook comes out October 23rd! It’s a destination bakery. Folks travel from as far away as Florida. So the cookbook is not just about recipes, but a feeling. The story of a place. What it’s like to work and bake and live here in our part of the South. I cannot WAIT to make his okra pickles and pepper jelly and all the rest of the stuff that makes me loves Southern food the most.
How did all of this begin? Flashback many years when Brian and his partner Dwight bought a farm, which of course needed a truck to make it complete. Brian found a beautiful candy apple red 1954 Ford F-100. Little did he know the seller was Tommy Hilfiger. To feed his creative passions, Brian started making jams, loaves of bread, and pastries, selling them at local farmer’s markets. When Marian Burros profiled his wares in The New York Times a small business quickly turned into a larger one with a readymade logo perfectly suited to the theme of “Rural Bakery”. Word spread quickly, so quickly they could barely keep up with demand. Brian found a space, some investors, and developed the look and feel for the bakery, of course making that beloved red truck the centerpiece. He eventually expanded to Marshall, adding a lunch counter to a historic mercantile space. It’s four times the size but once again, retains that homespun, friendly, country feel. All relating back to that red truck.
His expertise is a result of his training at CIA, L’Academie de Cuisine, and King Arthur, all of which Brian completed while working as art director. Former President Barack Obama considers Red Truck’s Sweet Potato Bourbon Pecan Pie his favorite. A hand-delivered letter hanging in the shop says so. Robert Duvall cut the rope on the Marshall store. Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone had lunch there once. Literally, half of The Godfather just eating sandwiches. Wow!
You can order online for shipping through Goldbelly, but everything is baked and handled in Red Truck kitchens. Brian still looks at the orders himself, signs the card, and makes sure every order goes out perfectly. Which at Thanksgiving and Christmas can mean thousands of orders. He will only ship mincemeat pies because fruit pies don’t ship well. Pies and cakes are seasonal to keep it fresh. Ingredients like apples, peaches, moonshine, and sorghum are sourced locally and selected carefully.
What happened when Brian agreed to made madeleines for Jacques Pépin and his daughter Claudine? What happened when his moonshine cake was profiled by The Today Show right before Christmas? What happens when weather threatens but you’re a nationally-recognized bakery with orders that still need to arrive on time? How do you keep your business going with skilled staff when you live and create in a small town? Is the revitalization of Warrenton and Marshall a blessing or a curse? Did Brian help art direct the cookbook? You’ll just have to listen. Then buy the Red Truck Bakery cookbook when it comes out October 23rd. Brian’s story has so much connection to it, how a chance meeting led to an opportunity, then another, and another. Just love that. Almost as much as I love that Shenandoah apple cake. Stay edacious!
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