Common Crumb Artisan Bakery & Coffee
Call it love at first bite.
I sink my teeth into the toasted English muffin and fight my initial reaction to gobble it up. Instead, I close my eyes and chew thoughtfully, savoring the tender crumb, the satisfying sourdough tang, the way the salty butter and rich honey melted into its soul. The antithesis of store-bought, mass-produced English muffins, this hearty (they clock in at more than one and a half inches thick and nearly five inches across) and earthy disc comes from the skilled hands of an artisan named Dana Fowler, owner and chef of Common Crumb Bakery in Brunswick, just 15 minutes east of downtown Troy on Route 7.
“These muffins were inspired by the Blue Moon Café in Saranac Lake where my husband, Chris, and I would have breakfast while camping,” Dana explains. “I figured out how to make them back here at the Crumb. And then, I tweaked the recipe further after visiting Plant City in Providence, Rhode Island. Their approach to plant-based food inspired me to up my game at the Crumb. In lieu of butter and milk, I swapped in coconut oil and pea protein powder mixed with water. I’ve never veganized something before and been so thoroughly amazed at the result. They’re tender, freeze beautifully and are nearly indiscernible from fresh baked. My goal is to make things taste delicious, and if I can accomplish that using certain plant-based ingredients, I will.” But she’s also happy to put thick, fried bacon and cheddar cheese on that breakfast sandwich, keeping her nonvegan customers satisfied.
Dana builds a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheddar and bacon and also created a vegan version. “It’s the most unique item we offer. Sandwiched between the vegan muffin is lentil shiitake sausage, tofu egg, and Imposter cheese. All plant-based!
Dana opened Common Crumb in October 2019 in a historic 1872 schoolhouse transformed from a law firm into a small commercial bakery and artisan café. It took four years to complete the renovation, but—like waiting for dough to proof and rise—the final result was worth the wait. The original hardwood floors gleam like honey; polished chalkboards from the schoolhouse serve as café tables; a small wooden tablet desk awaits at the bottom of the driveway.
It’s an inviting, cheerful, clean space in which to enjoy any of the Crumb’s signature baked goods: a slice of cinnamon coffee ring, a luscious crumb-topped raspberry bar, a piece of chocolate beet bread, chewy chocolate chip or ginger cookies. House-made granola comes with milk of choice or layered with yogurt and seasonal local preserves. And of course, Dana’s English muffins are available toasted with butter and preserves or with almond butter, honey and cinnamon. She builds a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheddar and bacon and also created a vegan version. “It’s the most unique item we offer. Sandwiched between the vegan muffin is lentil shiitake sausage, tofu egg and Imposter cheese. All plant-based! The sausage is made with Canadian lentils, dried pulverized shiitake mushrooms, English muffin crumbs, flax, nutritional yeast, tamari, maple, molasses and toasted rosemary and black pepper. The vegan egg is silken tofu, corn and rice starch, nutritional yeast, turmeric and black salt. Imposter is a vegan mozzarella company based in Troy that Chris and I helped start up.”
Dana uses local products such as Pixie’s Preserves, Brewtus Coffee and Bee Bevy honey. She also works with a distributor who sources ingredients from small farms and producers throughout New York State: Kriemhild Creamery, North Country Creamery, Jake’s Cheese and Farmer Ground flour, to name a few.
No café would be complete without espresso-based coffee drinks. Here, each shot is pulled by hand from the Astoria Rapallo lever-operated espresso machine, not a punch-button, computerized contraption. “It’s like driving a stick shift versus an automatic car,” Dana says, her inner coffee geek percolating. “It’s more challenging to manipulate, but once you master it, you’ll perform with more dexterity and control. You learn to pay attention and are wholly engaged in the process, not just pushing preset buttons. To my knowledge, I’m the only café in the area that uses a levered espresso machine. It takes a little more time to pull a proper shot, 45 to 60 seconds as opposed to 25 to 30 seconds, but the unique end result is worth the effort. My friend Josh, who used to be a barista at Superior Merch in Troy, now works with us, and he loves this machine.” She sources her coffee from her friend Steve Pivonka, owner of Brewtus Roasting based in Delmar. They met when Dana was baking her wholesale biscotti under the name of Bella’s Bounty and delivering them to cafés around the Capital Region prior to opening Common Crumb.
“I loved delivering my biscotti to cafés. It allowed me to absorb café culture and see how every place did things a little differently. To this day, whenever Chris and I travel, we seek out the local cafés who offer the most authentic representation of their communities. Those adventures have always provided inspiration for us.”
Dana has created her own café vibe at the Crumb. “I love watching other people enjoying themselves here. It’s really satisfying to create an atmosphere that encourages those interactions. My favorite moments are when the café is buzzing and the place is filled with the aroma of roasted coffee and breakfast sandwiches cooking. That’s quintessential Crumb.”
“My dish machine was a spare from Next Door Kitchen in Ballston Spa where Chris works; the 1970s Vulcan convection oven came from Troy High School kitchen; the stainless sink was in a Glens Falls grocery store; and I found Bertha, my 1958 Hobart mixer, down in Providence. She’s a workhorse!”
“I loved delivering my biscotti to cafés. It allowed me to absorb café culture and see how every place did things a little differently. To this day, whenever Chris and I travel, we seek out the local cafés who offer the most authentic representation of their communities. Those adventures have always provided inspiration for us.”
She cranks out those breakfast sandwiches and baked goods in a compact, efficiently designed kitchen tucked behind the coffee bar. Dana and Chris spent several years tracking down refurbished professional appliances from restaurants and other institutions around the region. “My dish machine was a spare from Next Door Kitchen in Ballston Spa where Chris works; the 1970s Vulcan convection oven came from Troy High School kitchen; the stainless sink was in a Glens Falls grocery store; and I found Bertha, my 1958 Hobart mixer, down in Providence. She’s a workhorse!”
The café is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “We’re planning to expand our hours with special events, including an Open Mic Night on Thursday evenings. We’ve done them on alternating Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m., but my friend Sofi a who manages the events thinks we can offer them at other times.” Starting in spring, Common Crumb will have Pizza Night on Sundays, with whole pies built on her sourdough crusts. Wednesday evening Study Nights for college students are also on the docket.
Purposeful. Thoughtful. Sustainable. Local. Delicious. The atmosphere a step back in time, the vibe thoroughly relaxed and modern. The Common Crumb merits a visit, a place you will fall in love with after the first bite or sip.
Common Crumb is located at 1011 Hoosick Road, Troy. common-crumb.com
