THE SOUR p r6o0f5i l e written by greta smith + photos by cailyn patterson
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With the simple goal of selling a few loaves of sourdough out of their Rapid City home, Makenzie and Peter Mitchell became a business in 2021. “What started as the two of us with our hands in the dough each day has drastically shifted as we’ve grown,” reflected Makenzie. The couple opened The Sour in May 2022, and moved downtown this past June. The bakery offers sourdough bread and pastries, as well as espresso drinks. “We have an espresso bar because, let’s be honest, pastry is better served with coffee,” said Makenzie. The couple works together to ensure the bakery’s success—while Peter works hands-on as a “jack of all trades,” Makenzie manages the household and takes on whatever work will also allow the Mitchells’ toddler to be involved. Read more about the budding Rapid City bakery, its owners, and their life outside of work.
not working on something related to the bakery, from brainstorming menu ideas to running payroll, emailing with new accounts, figuring out how to get our bread into surrounding cities, how to be open more, how to fill whatever the most requested need has been, and the list goes on. What do you do in your free time? Spending time and investing in our family is the top priority for us. Peter plays PC video games and tries to make time for that every day to relax a bit. What's a goal you have for 2025? To get more lunch options out—we feel the need where we’re located, and we’d love to accommodate. Decorating our space is high on the priority list as well. We moved in quickly and said we’d take care of it as we went, but that can be easier said than done. We also got pizza ovens in so we can get back to Peter’s first love, which is pizza. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THESOURSD.COM+ 2__
Where did The Sour get its name? Peter loved the idea of a sourdough bakery several years prior to opening. He threw the name out there back in 2018 as a dream we never thought would become reality. What's your favorite item you carry? Favorite is hard to nail down, but the thing we bring home the most has to be our sourdough bagels—our whole family is addicted to them. The Country Bread is another household staple. Our kids love the cinnamon chip bread and inhale a loaf of that if it’s in our home. We also recently released donuts that have been a huge hit in our home. That, or a tray of take-and-bake cinnamon rolls—they’re a Sunday morning obsession for us. What does your day-to-day look like? It’s all over the place—Peter may be waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. to assist with a morning mix, or he may be working until 2 a.m., filling in to bake at the overnight shift. It can be wildly unpredictable. Each night he is sending mix schedules and emails to our staff. At home, we’re never really
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