Exclusive: Smash-hit Manifest Bread is expanding

Weekend lines can form around Manifest Bread, a tiny bakery in Riverdale Park that's amassed a big cult-like following.

• Now, its owners are growing their footprint so that chefs and carb lovers who journey miles to snag a loaf can stay for a while.

The big picture: Manifest is closing for around four months starting Sunday, July 28, to expand the Prince George's County bakery and create an adjoining restaurant and bar.

Why it matters: Really good bread isn't easy to find in the DMV, and Manifest 2.0 promises to be the kind of destination that foodies and neighbors flock to.

Catch up quick: Owners Rick and Tyes Cook, local high school sweethearts, are over 20-year veterans of the restaurant industry. Tyes managed restaurants like Obelisk and Fiola Mare , while Rick cooked at dough-centric spots like 2Amys and Etto .

• It was at the latter he started milling his own flour and grains for breads and pizzas, a tradition that carries on at Manifest.
• The couple sold bread from their home during the pandemic and opened the bakery last year, where loaves, pastries and sandwiches — often stuffed with meats that Rick butchered and prepared in-house — fly off the shelves.

What they're saying: "We read the crowd for what customers wanted," Rick tells Axios about the expansion. The couple always dreamed of opening their own restaurant, and now is the time.

• "The cuteness of our tiny place kind of loses its luster when people drive far and can't sit."

Zoom in: The expansion will nearly triple Manifest's size (though still not huge, just over 30 seats). The streamlined bakery, which will run from around 8am-3pm, will have more varieties of breads and pastries, made-to-order breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and a grab-and-go case for specialties like homemade butter, pork rillettes and chicken salad.

• The cozy restaurant and cocktail/wine/beer bar (20 and 7 seats, respectively) will fire up in the evenings. Rick says "the idea is a baker's dinner, everything will be out of the oven." No saute pans, no burners, similar to the restaurants he worked in.
• The seasonal menu will boast oven-roasted vegetables and proteins plus large, family-style pizzas that are reminiscent of New York or New Haven but fashioned from house-milled flour "with our touches" (you can get the idea from their pizza nights ).

Between the lines: The Cooks just launched a Kickstarter campaign to help cover the costs of building the new restaurant and procuring an oven. As Rick says: "Dreams do not fund themselves."

Meanwhile, regulars won't go entirely bread-less. Staple loaves will be available at a Gateway Farmers Market stand in Mt. Rainier on Saturdays.

• Diners will still find them at some of the city's best restaurants like Petite Cerise , Lutece , Primrose and neighbor 2Fifty .

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