Seylou Bakery

(Washington, DC)

Jonathan & Jessica

Jonathan and Jessica, husband and wife duo, started Seylou in 2017. Jonathan's extensive study and work in the San Francisco Bay area and the Washington State University Bread Lab prepared him to open a whole grain, locally sourced fresh milled sourdough bakery on the East Coast closer to their families.

Jonathan's passion for bread and local grains began on a trip to Senegal in 2007, and provided the inspiration for what is now Seylou. The word Seylou is the name of an eagle in the Senegal region. Senegal is a place that Jonathan continues to visit and support to this day and is home to many dear friends.

Long Fermentation

Bakers of the past relied on sourdough to slowly leaven their breads. Time-honored techniques such as fermentation, soaking, sprouting and nixtimalization have been used throughout the ages to unlock the nutritive potential and bioavailability of whole grains as well as to neutralize anti nutrients such as phytic acid.

Nearly all of our breads are made with long fermentation. We also nixitimalize many of the grains we use with wood ash from our oven. The results are delicious, nutrient dense loaves which are easier for most people to digest.

All of our loaves are made from 100% whole grains and will tend towards having a rustic look and a darker loaf coloration. The dough is well hydrated lending to a moist, tender and flavorful product.

Grains

One of the principles of regenerative agriculture is crop diversity. We base our menu on a soil-building model of crop rotations and cover crops by purchasing as much of the 'whole-farm' as possible. This enables us to directly support a regenerative system.

On a daily basis we use about two dozen varieties of grains and pseudo-cereals, all organic and grown in the mid-Atlantic region including modern as well as heirloom wheats, einkorn, spelt, emmer, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, barley and oats.