Q&A with SconeWild founder Brian Monroe

Who here loves baking?

I do, but a couple weeks back I attempted my first chiffon pie. And truly, it broke my heart. So many steps with the egg-dividing and merenguing. So much attentive (and frankly, a little fussy for my style) double-boiler-whisking. A gorgeous beauty of a pineapple my son helped cut & purée. Graham cracker crust from scratch.

Come morning (after hours of chilled setting time), our fresh pineapple chiffon was still a jiggly mess, and instead of that for Thanksgiving dessert, we ate ice cream from Safeway.

Lucky for us, Brian Monroe’s first attempt at baking did NOT end in heartbreak – in fact, quite the opposite. It became the start of a very good (& perfectly crumbly-on-the-inside) thing.

Enjoy,

Kim Neumann

“Friends and family would nicely tell me that I made the best scones they had ever had.”

About 25 years ago, I made scones for the first time with my aunt when visiting family in Vermont. I had never really baked before. I looked at the opportunity more as a bonding moment with my aunt when she asked me to make scones with her. I ended up discovering my passion for baking during that experience. My aunt gave me her recipe, and then I tweaked it and developed my own flavor combinations. I ended up baking other things after that experience with my aunt such as pies, but scones were the passion. Friends and family would nicely tell me that I made the best scones they had ever had.

I finally decided to do a scone business. I did the business part-time for many years. I had a full-time job during the week, and did one farmers market on Saturdays, and eventually started doing a farmers market on Sundays also after hiring our first employee. I ended up leaving my full time job in April of this year so I could do the business full time, and am loving it.

There are many people that don’t know how we came up with our name and tag line. Regarding the name, in some parts of Europe, they call scones “scons” instead. The name is a reference to the term “Gone Wild.” I always enjoy it when customers get the name and comment on it. Regarding our tag line “the way scones should be,” one of our first customers was from Ireland and she said, “finally a scone like at home, like a scone should be!”

One unique aspect is I we only do ONE bakery product, and I have no desire to do any other baking product other than scones. I tell people “it is scones or bust” for me. I think what also sets us apart is our scones are compared to the traditional British scone, and to scones you find in different areas in Europe. That is our goal!

My passion for baking and selling scones. And, thankfully getting great feedback from customers: how much they love our scones and say they are “the best they have ever had” — that’s what really inspires me.

I want them to really enjoy the scones, and hopefully find them to be very good and high quality. I want them to compare our scones to the traditional British scone if they have experienced them before. I also like for us to provide great customer service to our customers and develop a good connection with them. I feel this plays an additional role in them wanting to buy from us again.

I like to tell customers that I have never taken any type of baking class, and learning by doing can be a way to go.

I would like to have my own space. It would not only be my production kitchen, but a place where customers could walk in buy the scones. I envision a get-your-scones-and-go concept. In addition, I would continue to sell at farmers markets, increase special orders such as for private or employer events, continue to do some wholesale, and possibly look at doing mail orders.

Buy our scones! You can find us at the Sausalito Art & Harbor Days, Sausalito Farmers Market, Golden Gate Market in Sausalito, and if you’re down in the South Bay, the San Mateo Farmers Market.

Also, we would really appreciate locals spreading the word if they have tried our scones and enjoyed them.

Follow SconeWild on Instagram and Facebook, check out their website, or just say hi to Brian!

See more events here.

Thanks for reading,
Kim

Kim Neumann, Publisher