Ibis Bakery in Lenexa to open downtown Kansas City location this fall

Bread baker Chris Matsch and his partner, Kate Seversen, who have been selling loaves of their crusty, country-style breads at farmers markets, coffee shops and specialty stores for several years under the Ibis Bakery banner, opened their first retail operation last October (at 12817 West 87th Street Parkway, in Lenexa).

The young married couple now plans to open a combination coffee roaster, bakery and cafe in downtown Kansas City, at 1624 Grand. Chris Matsch says he projects a fall opening for the new business, which is yet unnamed.

A self-taught bread baker, Chris Matsch studied theology in college and, after that, managed a sports business, specializing in snowboarding and skateboarding. Since opening in Lenexa, Chris and Kate Seversen have expanded the selection of breads they offer, but not the number of small batches they produce each day.

“It’s the small batches that enable us to control the quality,” Chris Matsch says.

The Ibis Bakery product line is not limited to bread. The founders hired pastry chef Alison Reed last year, and Reed has been creating a rotating line of sweets, including cookies, miniature loaves of gingerbread, fruit turnovers, and a luscious savory bread pudding.

They say they’re not sure if they’ll call the downtown venue Ibis Bakery (they originally chose the name because the ibis prefer to eat in a communal setting), but they do know that they’ll be roasting coffee in the location, possibly milling their own flour and definitely selling their bread products.

The plan is to keep the Ibis Bakery in Lenexa up and running. The hard-to-find location (just down from the Black Dog Coffeehouse, which uses Ibis bread for a best-selling offering: toast) is now open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Will the downtown bakery be offering toast as a side dish? Chris Matsch says it’s in the plans.