Roe Sie - The King’s Roost

Real coffee roasted, ground, and brewed is something most would prefer over instant coffee, hence why people are willing to pay five bucks for a quality drink at cafes. “Real bread” however, doesn’t quite have the same artisanal reputation in the 21st century. Enter bread baker extraordinaire, urban homesteader, father of two, and founder of The King’s Roost, Roe Sie. By the way, Roe is pronounced “roo”, the same way shoe is pronounced “shoo”. I made that mistake so you, the reader, wouldn’t.

I wanted to learn Roe’s mission but in order to understand what it is, he gave me an hour-long lecture on the history of bread. I didn’t mind. As one of those pretentious, self-proclaimed “foodies”, any knowledge regarding one of my favorite foods is welcome. I eagerly listened in since the information was interesting and pertinent to the future of fresh, localized food.

To summarize the lecture, bread is an important staple food worldwide but when most Americans eat bread, they’re actually eating a “pseudo-bread product”. As the western world industrialized, it deviated from a 6000 year-old process of bread making. Flours began being processed and refined for speed, quantity, convenience, and extended shelf life. Among other things, flour in bread was stripped of essential nutrients, fibers, and oils resulting in illnesses and health degradation. Instead of switching back to natural wheat, industrial producers instead artificially reintroduced these properties and continued to invent new ways to process flour. The same processed flour and packaged bread is now commonplace in stores.

Roe describes these products as “lipstick on a pig”.

This is a VERY brief history but for anyone interested in learning more, Roe suggested an excellent food documentary series on Netflix called “Cooked”. Episode 3: Air explores this history in depth and brilliantly well.

The day I went to The King’s Roost, Roe baked a few loaves of bread using a new blend of grains he had never tasted so I put my camera aside for a few minutes to enjoy the snack with him. Suffice to say, it was easily the best bread I have ever tasted. Having it toasted with some jam and butter on top was indescribable. Trust me– I’m a guy that really likes bread.

Referring back to coffee, the instant stuff was the craze just a few decades ago but nowadays, people much prefer the real deal. Similarly, Roe’s life mission is to show the world what real bread tastes like and what mankind has forgotten in favor of refined foods and convenience.

That being said, King’s Roost carries a wide variety of wheat from local farmers, an array of his own handmade soaps, DIY kits, and a plethora of tools to start urban homesteading. While Roe has these things readily available, he is most known for his classes. With a grassroots approach, Roe has been “seeding” (no pun intended) the community with flour mills and teaching people to make their own bread– he also offers a variety of classes on how to brew beers, make soaps, sauerkraut, as well as inviting guest instructors to host their own lessons. The bread baking classes have become wildly popular and tend to sell out quite often, but these recipes/techniques aren’t trade secrets. Roe highly encourages sharing and spreading this knowledge around.

Admittedly, making real bread does require a bit of time and it won’t be easy in the beginning. But honestly, anything worth doing is never easy. In a way, Roe’s process requires fewer steps in order to achieve great results because freshly milled flour isn’t stripped of natural properties. He firmly believes there’s a sense of satisfaction in knowing exactly what you’re eating and where it came from, especially if you made it yourself. I wholeheartedly agree.

I had a great time chatting with Roe and especially sampling his fantastic bread. The King’s Roost is one of Silverlake’s “hidden gems”, quite literally, because the entrance is behind a building through a parking lot. I’ll definitely be going in to take some classes in the near future and you should too. The man has a heart of gold with a humble purpose and I encourage my fellow pretentious self-proclaimed foodies, or anyone even remotely interested in DIY activities to check his store out. You’re bound to find some cool stuff and learn something new along the way.

The King’s Roost
3732 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
http://www.kingsroost.com/
@kingsroostla