This small-town bakery draws crowds from across the Midwest, in just three hours a week

NEWBURG, MINN. — Driving down a winding road dotted with farms, churches and roadside produce stands, it can be easy to miss the only business in town here, an old red shop tucked behind rows of flowers and hanging ferns.

But make no mistake, behind those century-and-a-half-old walls is one of the top food destinations in Minnesota’s Driftless Area.

For the past seven years, Irene Fishburn has been delighting locals and road-trippers alike with made-from-scratch delicacies at Newburg Vintage Home and Garden and Small Batch Bakery.

Fishburn opened the business after she and her husband, Glenn, moved to southeastern Minnesota to be closer to family in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After leaving the grind of their corporate careers in California, the couple settled on a former general store where Irene, a former merchandise buyer for more than 35 stores, could sell garden gifts and baked goods, and Glenn could fish in a nearby trout stream.

Their retirement was set — at least that was the plan.

“When we first bought it, we imagined sitting on the front porch and having coffee with neighbors who stopped by,” Irene said. “We had no idea that it would become a destination-type business.”

Open only on select Saturdays — and then for only three hours — the Newburg bakery regularly draws scores of people willing to stand in line for up to an hour during the busiest summer months to get a taste of authentic French baking. Others come from just down the road.

Mike and Cheryl Erickson, both retired military members, spend their summers in nearby Mabel, Minn., where Mike grew up. He remembers getting ice cream as a kid outside of the same building and said he initially came to the bakery with low expectations.

“We had recently taken a cruise in France, and I fell in love with almond croissants on the ship,” Mike said. “Then we discovered Irene makes them even better … just down the road, we couldn’t believe it.

The Ericksons are not alone. In recent years, to keep up with demand, Irene has started encouraging pre-orders and added a pickup window at the shop. Most of the garden items for sale have been replaced with additional seating and cases full of best-selling pastries like brioche and eclairs.

Irene, who grew up baking with her mother in Holland, has also started hosting classes — hundreds have signed up to learn how to make her signature croissants.

“I posted the first event on Facebook, and within a half hour, we sold out,” Irene said. “Then I added four more, and they sold out within a day.

“Maybe that’s my out, and we can start being tourists finally,” she added with a laugh.

While the shop has delayed retirement plans, Irene said the smiles she gets every Saturday are worth the four days of preparation that it takes to open. That work begins with a road trip around the region — from Decorah, Iowa, to Winona, Minn. — to find the freshest flour, cream, eggs and other ingredients.

“I have always believed that you should be able to get your ingredients as close to where you live, and this area is really good for that,” said Irene, whose treats vary depending on what’s available seasonally.

She then spends a full day weighing the ingredients and another day making the chocolate ganache and fruit fillings. Baking, with the help of a friend and Glenn, the resident dishwasher, begins Friday afternoon and goes through the night and into the early morning hours of Saturday.

By the time she opens her doors, Irene has gone more than 30 hours without sleep to ensure the croissants, cream puffs, cookies and other delectables are as fresh as possible.

“I think people know when it’s fresh,” Irene said. “They can taste the difference.”

Asked whether the crowds have raised any concerns with neighbors in the tiny town where cats and dogs outnumber people, the Fishburns said the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

“They say, ‘You brought Newburg back to life,’” Glenn said.