Learn the Art of Their Craft
Meet SYV Maker, Amy Dixon
Maker Amy Dixon, owner and chief baker of The Baker’s Table in Santa Ynez, opened her artisanal bakery and cafe in 2012. What started as a quaint coffee shop with just a handful of tables has since expanded to the now airy cafe on Sagunto Street that serves breakfast, lunch and services over 30 local restaurants with housemade breads. We sat down with Amy to learn more about her and The Baker’s Table.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the culinary arts, particularly focusing on breads and pastries?
Amy: I was working in Boston, grabbing a quick lunch, when an ad in Gourmet magazine caught my eye. It was for the California Culinary Academy. I was already planning to move back to San Francisco, so on a whim, I applied. I thought, ‘This could be really fun.’ Before that moment, I hadn’t even thought about a career in the culinary arts.
But why breads and pastries? I guess I’m fascinated by the science behind them. Cooking offers a lot of freedom, but baking is different—it’s like a series of experiments. You tweak one thing, and you get a completely different outcome. It’s about constantly playing with variables.
And I just loved making bread. I loved the feel of it and the experimentation of it.
What drew you to the Santa Ynez Valley?
Amy: I didn’t want to raise a child in San Francisco and my husband had a colleague in San Luis Obispo. So we came down to visit and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s really beautiful here.’
When we first arrived in 1997, it was really a food desert. That was a little bit of a shell shock after being in the Bay Area.
My dream was to have a little place like the Side Street Cafe but to do this with the coffee and croissants. I wanted a spot where people could hang out and just be comfortable. So I wanted that – that was my whole vision. I was scared to do it though, it’s a big jump.
The Santa Ynez Valley is no longer a food desert. Why have so many restaurateurs like yourself taken that leap?
Amy: I think the Santa Ynez Valley was and is a hidden gem. I think that there were opportunities for people like me and all the other amazing restaurants that are here. I think the visitors and the growth in restaurants are symbiotic: the more visitors come, the more restaurants open and the more restaurants open, the more visitors are going to come.
But we know the restaurant business isn’t easy. Can you share some of those challenges and what keeps you passionate about your work?
Amy: I had no idea how much work it was going to be. When I first opened, I was working 13 hours a day and I was just exhausted. I remember after about 8 or 9 months, thinking ‘I have to make this thing really thrive otherwise, I just wouldn’t make it.
So, I started introducing new products, added breakfast, daily specials, and increasing the size of the menu. Just step by step, it grew. Bringing in quiche, of all things! I use Julia Child’s recipe for quiche and it’s amazing. People started coming just for quiche, and if we don’t have quiche, people go crazy.
I have had such a wonderful array of faithful, loyal customers over the years. And I am just so grateful for them. They come in a couple times a week and some of them have become really good friends.
It’s all so difficult and so rewarding. And it’s beautiful, and it makes you cry, and you just keep going. It’s like a child that never grows up. At times, it will bring you to your knees. And you just have to keep going. You just have to scrape yourself off the pavement and keep going.
How did the name come about?
Amy: I did WEV (Women’s Economic Ventures) in 2010 and we had a round table of business names. I wanted to call it Buttercream & Cake at first but I thought that was too fluffy. So the tables that we work on in the back are baker’s tables where you table your bread. So that’s the reason for this white table (Amy gestures to the table where we’re sitting). I had this made especially for the bakery. I wanted this table to be more than just a piece of furniture. I wanted it to symbolize the community. That’s the idea behind The Baker’s Table.
