ST. GEORGE —If you like sourdough, this business is about to become your bread and butter.
“I’ve always loved baking,” Nessie’s Sweet n Savory owner Janessa Wight said, holding a loaf of her bread. “My mom would always find me in the kitchen and I’ve continued that to this day and I still just love it.”
She’s serving up sourdough bread loaves, sourdough bagels, sourdough chocolate chip cookies and even sourdough doggy treats. But she doesn’t stop there. She also hand-dips festive caramel apples, makes freeze-dried candy and bakes zucchini, banana and pumpkin bread.
Sourdough loaves come in both sweet and savory flavors. Customers can choose from rotated varieties such as white chocolate peach, white chocolate raspberry, lemon blueberry and lemon cranberry.
Staple flavors — which are always available — include white, wheat, rye and garlic parmesan. Choose from savory flavors like cilantro garlic parmesan, rosemary garlic, jalapeno cheddar, Italian herbs and cheese, black pepper, white cheddar chives, everything bagel and roasted red pepper tossed in asiago with garlic. Italian focaccia bread includes garden tomato and rosemary and cheddar, which creates a flavor and texture similar to deep-dish pizza.
Looking to try something new? Try her sourdough cinnamon rolls.
“I can never eat a regular cinnamon roll again,” she said. “If you’ve actually ever tried one, you know. If you’re not careful you could eat the entire pack.”
Wight said her love for baking started when she was four years old. Her earliest memories include making Spudnuts – an old-fashioned donut made out of potato water – with her grandmother and passing them out to friends and neighbors.
She continued to bake as she got older and the passion has grown with her. When her son was in need of expensive surgery, she began selling her artesian bread loaves as a way to offset medical costs. And boy, did the community respond. She ended up making 24 dozen donuts in one day and over 150 loaves of artesian bread.
In August 2021, she began vending at the Hurricane farmers market where she introduced her Spudnuts to the community. After moving to the St. George Downtown Farmers Market, she expanded her menu and began making sourdough bread – something she had never done before.
“There’s a whole science to sourdough,” she said. “It’s flour and water. You watch it, cover it, feed it, you can’t neglect it, you can’t use tap water, there’s so many things. But once I got it down, that was it.”
Originally starting with four staple flavors, her business skyrocketed. She’s had people come from California, Nevada and other areas to buy her bread loaves by the dozen.
“I think it’s really cool to me that people are willing to travel to support me,” she said. “I have my customers that come every week that say I can’t ever leave or quit, and that feels great.”
Wight said she’s had great feedback from gluten-intolerant customers who’ve been able to eat her bread without the stomach upset or other side effects. That’s due to the natural ingredients and no additives typically found in store-bought bread.
As for future plans, Wight hopes to open an old-fashioned 1950s diner that would offer loaves of bread and the ability to order menu items like a cheeseburger with a homemade sourdough bun.
For more information on Nessie’s Sweet n Savory and to place an order, find them on Instagram and Facebook, or text Wight at 435-817-1099. Visit her booth at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market on Saturdays.
Photo Gallery
A variety of sourdough bread loaves by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Sourdough bread loaves by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory are made into pumpkins, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
A sourdough bread loaf by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sits on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
A sourdough loaf by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory is packaged and ready to go, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
A sourdough bread loaf by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sits on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
A variety of sourdough bread loaves by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Nessie’s Sweet n Savory owner Janessa Wight stands with a loaf of her sourdough bread in St. George, Utah, Oct. 2, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A variety of caramel apples by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory are packaged and ready to go, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Treats by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Unicorn treats by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Caramel apples by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Nessie’s Sweet n Savory owner Janessa Wight stands with a loaf of her sourdough bread in St. George, Utah, Oct. 2, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Treats by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Baked sourdough goodness is made by Janessa Wight with Nessie’s Sweet n Savory, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
Italian focaccia bread by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory is similar to a deep dish pizza, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
A sourdough bread loaf by Nessie’s Sweet n Savory sits on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Janessa Wight, St. George News
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