Jane’s Dough
Story by Jessica McKeil
For Story Factory
Photos by Stasia Garraway
Vanessa Sabourin & Greg Barnes. This isn't just a story about bread; it's also a story about love. Not the everyday kind, but the rare kind - the kind that feeds you and challenges you in all the right ways — the kind most people only dream about. Vanessa and Greg, co-owners of Jane's Dough, have created a beautiful life together — one that now just so happens to feature bread. Bread they shape, bake, and share with whole-hearted love.
Jane's Dough, a gluten-free micro bakery specializing in sourdough, has become a foodie phenomenon—but its beginnings were far more personal. It all began as Vanessa's humble project to make better bread for the one she loved.
Vanessa was born in Montreal, where her childhood was fuelled by baguettes, brie and her mom's gift for baking. Good food — especially good bread — became her love language, woven into her closest relationships. But as fate would have it, she fell for Greg, a British-Canadian raised on wholesome, homemade meals prepared by Mum, but whose adulthood had been completely reshaped by a celiac diagnosis.
Between Greg and Vanessa, there was a loaf-shaped hole, and the commercially available gluten-free options didn't cut it. For Vanessa, this was unacceptable. Thus began her journey to recreate a good loaf of bread with gluten-free ingredients.
And so, in their Salt Spring apartment kitchen, Vanessa and Greg's connection grew to revolve around baking. In the beginning, this was all just a passion project. Week after week, loaf by loaf, Vanessa was learning how to bake and speak the language of a temperamental sourdough starter, enjoying the trial and persisting through the error.
Eventually, after countless proofs and a countertop perpetually dusted with flour, she landed on what would become Jane's Dough's signature loaf. When Vanessa and Greg broke bread together, they realised they couldn't keep this a secret.
The need to share this gluten-free secret became the idea of Jane's Dough. Named in honor of Greg's mother, whose love of good food lives on in every loaf, this accidental bakery kicked off. First among folks seeking gluten alternatives, but almost as quickly, word has spread among foodies at large.
In the early days, when they had only a few local retailers, everything was still made in their tiny apartment. Working, living, and loving in a 400-square-foot space, Vanessa and Greg's world became all about bread. To keep up with demand, they were baking round the clock, just six loaves at a time, in their small home oven. At one point, they even sold their bed, sleeping on a fold-out couch just to make more room for flour in their bedroom.
This could easily have broken a new business partnership, let alone a romantic one. But, nothing could be further from what has unfolded. Greg and Vanessa continue to radiate joy from behind the market table, sharing their love with the community one warm loaf at a time. Jane's Dough is a testament to their commitment and the extraordinary bond they've built, in life and in bread.
Today, only four short years since its beginning, Jane's Dough has moved into their own beautiful commercial space, complete with specialty bread ovens and, yes—even a dedicated flour storage room. The sky's the limit for this Salt Spring Island micro bakery as they transform (really, revolutionize) the world of gluten-free baking. And with love as the main ingredient, you won't even notice the gluten's missing.
