For the past year or so, people driving through Antrim early on Saturday morning have been startled by an unusual sight -- a line of customers stretched down the block, waiting for Flag Leaf Bakery to open. 

“Everything is baked day of; we don’t hold anything over.  We don’t usually have a lot left over. Especially pastry,” said baker John Ellingwood. 

“We don’t really know how many people wait outside; because we’re so busy out here, we can’t see around the corner. We just know it is steady, nonstop business,” said his partner and fellow baker Melanie McCune.

The business’ name comes from the final leaf to emerge on any cereal grain plant, the “flag leaf,” which stimulates the growth of the plant’s head of wheat. Ellingwood and McCune sell out their pastries sell out every time they are open, and on the occasions they don’t also sell out of bread, McCune donates loaves to local food pantries or drops them off with friends and community members. Flag Leaf also vends at the Peterborough Farmers’ Market when the market is outside in warmer months.  

“The town and the community have just been so supportive,” McCune said of Flag Leaf’s first 18 months. “I don’t know how we would have done this without help from so many people in town.  The guys from Antrim Lumber brought a forklift and helped us move the ovens in. We had help with the electricity, with the register, people worked the counter on weekends before we had staff.  Starting a small business is always scary, and it’s been a bit of a relief to know this is doable. People have just supported us so much and we are so grateful. It’s such a generous community here.” 

McCune and Ellingwood moved back to the area from Portland, Ore., to be close to Ellingwood’s family in Hancock, and to escape the forest fires that have plagued Oregon in recent years.

“I’m not sure how anyone opens a small business without relying on family and friends,” McCune said. “We just have a great support network helping us, especially John’s parents.”

Ellingwood’s mother made a video of the crowd waiting outside the bakery before they closed for Christmas break. The line stretched all the way down the block and past the parking lot. 

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In March 2023, a Boston-based food blogger, The Roaming Foodie, visited Flag Leaf and gave a rave video review on TikTok and Instagram. The short video shows the host slicing into a jam-filled cruffin. Soon after the video was posted, crowds increased exponentially, with people coming from around New England to wait in line for Flag Leaf’s 9 a.m. opening. 

“The Roaming Foodie review made the biggest impact,” McCune said. “That was when we first started having people come from out of town, from Vermont and Boston. And they have just kept coming.” 

Flag Leaf has five-star reviews on online restaurant review sites, including Restaurant Guru,  Roadtrippers, Top Rated Online and Yelp.  They’ve also been featured in Monadnock Table and New Hampshire Magazine, and most recently, the crew from “New Hampshire Chronicle” stopped by. The episode will air after the New Hampshire primary.

Ellingwood and McCune, who both have 20 years of professional experience in the baking business, have spent the last year-and-a-half refining their baking and retail schedule. They now pull two all-nighters, baking from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. on Thursday and Friday nights in preparation for being open on Fridays and Saturdays. 

“It’s just part of the business. We’re totally used to it,” McCune said.

Flag Leaf’s most-popular items include their stuffed “cruffins,” which are laminated croissant dough in a muffin cup with various fillings. 

“It’s a nice crispy outer layer with fillings like cream, chocolate, fruit,” McCune said. “We pretty much always sell out of those.” 

McCune particularly enjoys making croissants. Flag Leaf offers chocolate, almond and savory versions.

Ellingwood specializes in naturally leavened bread. The dough, instead of using commercial yeast, ferments and rises slowly for 12 to 15 hours. Ellingwood explained that the long fermentation process breaks down the gluten in a way that commercial yeast does not, making Flag Leaf’s bread easier to digest than commercial varieties. Ellingwood’s pretzels, topped with  jalapeno cheese and other fillings, are another popular item. 

McCune and Ellingwood seek out local  New England millers who grind grains from scratch. They use flour from Ground Up Grain, a Hadley, Mass.-based miller, as well as from Vermont’s King Arthur Baking Company. 

Looking ahead, Ellingwood and McCune are planning to develop a wholesale business. They now have two full-time counter staff, which enables them to focus even more time on baking. 

“That’s the next thing we’re thinking about. We’d like to get our products into local businesses and expand out in the area,” Ellingwood said. 

“It’s wonderful that there are so many local bakers and there is such a variety of breads available,” McCune adds. “Bakers are just a wonderful community. We all learn from and help one another.” 

For information about Flag Leaf Bakery, go to their website.