Susannah Gebhart

Coming Up

Wood-fired loaves, laminated pastries, locally sourced grain, and dairy turned in-house into fresh cheese, yogurt, crème fraîche, and cultured butter define the pace at OWL Bakery in Asheville, where Susannah Gebhart works as owner and pastry chef-baker. The bakery’s method reads old-world, but the practice is tied to Western North Carolina: measured, patient, and responsive to what the season and the ingredient will allow. Earlier in her training, she learned from a fourth-generation baker of Spanish and Italian descent, and those inherited cadences still sit inside the work.

Where They Are Now

Old World Levain (OWL) Bakery in West Asheville is run on bread and pastry built from local grain, grass-fed dairy, and superfresh ingredients grown locally and well. Susannah Gebhart holds the roles of owner, founder, and head baker there, and also owner, pastry chef-baker at OWL Bakery in Asheville. The process is direct: doughs are handled with attention to their material logic, while housemade fresh cheese, yogurt, crème fraîche, and cultured butter extend the bakery’s own production into the dairy side of the case. Technique at this level is less about flourish than consistency. Susannah Gebhart’s work keeps the menu focused while leaving room for seasonal flavors, which gives the bakery a clear structure without flattening it. The result is a daily practice built on restraint, texture, and the accumulation of skill rather than improvisation for its own sake.

In Their Words “I think often how that has helped me be present in both my craft and in the world, and to find direction from within.” “But the menu we do have allows us to play a lot with seasonal flavors.”