01-07-2025
Tulsa Baker On A Mission Wins 2025 James Beard Award
Cat Cox, winner of the 2025 James Beard Pastry Award, in front of Country Bird Café in Tulsa, which ... More specializes in sourdough.
Cat Cox describes Country Bird Bakery, which she opened in 2022 in her hometown of Tulsa, Ok., as an 'artisanal sourdough bakery.' Cox earned the 2025 James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, which one might expect a baker from New York City or San Francisco to win. But Cox is a gifted baker and a woman on a mission.
Cox, who is 42-years-old, defines that mission as 'Support local farmers. Connect community. Create a space that I want to work in and where my employees are happy. And provide delicious baked goods that utilize whole grains.'
She explains that sourdough involves a 3-day fermentation process that makes bread more nutritious and more easily digestible. Ironically, she aimed to create a bakery that could thrive in San Francisco or N.Y.C.
Bootstrapping the Bakery
When she opened Country Bird Bakery three years ago, she did so on a shoestring budget. She tapped some savings she received from selling her house during Covid, helping her buy a deck oven. Then she raised some funds from family and friends that helped acquire the convection oven and spiral mixer, and bought used kitchen equipment via Facebook. But Cox owns it all now.
Cox says Country Bird Bakery uses 'local and regional, stone-milled flour as well as local produce, dairy and eggs.' Some of its specialty items include its pecan, twice-baked croissant, which is like an almond croissant but uses local pecans from Knight Pecan Farm, and its country loaf, which consists of 100% local stone-milled sourdough. Its drip coffee stems from Coracle Coffee, a local Tulsa roaster.
It also offers an array of sandwiches including focaccia including vegetarian frittata, ham 'n jams, and Camembert baguettes.
Dedicated to furthering the art of baking, she teaches sourdough workshops to the public, which can accommodate up to 15 students at once.
But Country Bird Bakery is very down-home and casual. Indeed, Cox says it really doesn't have any seating, other than a bar at the window with 4 stools. It's located between two Tulsa areas, the Pearl district and the Kendal Whittier district.
Very Limited Hours
Moreover, it's open extremely limited hours. It's open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and also a couple of Thursday's a month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It also sells wholesale breads to several local restaurants such as Farm Bar, Cow and Cabbage and Malfi and Coffee @ Heirloom, and desserts to Tina's, a local bar.
But the retail shop generates 90% of revenue with 5% each for wholesale and the baking workshops.
Why open for so few hours a week? Cox replies that it's limited by its cramped 1,000 square foot space that has no walk-in refrigerators. Nonetheless, it's profitable and reinvests its profits back into the business and buying new equipment.
She acknowledges that unlike most entrepreneurs, money isn't her driving force. 'Owning a bakery is a service to community, and it's hard work because baking usually starts at 3 a.m.,' she explains.
Cox is so understated in marketing that she says she 'has never spent any money on advertising.' She created a strong reputation as a chef when she cooked at Living Kitchen Farm, Dairy and Farm Bar, and then depended mostly on word of mouth when she debuted her bakery.
Buy Tulsa
It relies on local farms as her main suppliers, which Cox refers to as the bedrock of Oklahoma. If not, we'd be relying on big corporate farms, that are less responsive to local needs, she suggests.
She named her bakery Country Bird as an homage to her grandmother, who resided in a hamlet in Southwestern Oklahoma. On a visit to another small Ok. town, Cox spied a tattered awning that said Country Bird, which was the perfect name for her bakery.
Cox was raised in Tulsa, but attended art school in Kansas City, became a studio assistant in the Washington, D.C. area, and then moved to NYC to work at a papermaking studio Dieu Donne. Then she settled in Marfa, Tx. when the stock market crashed, and began working in kitchens. She returned to Tulsa 11 years ago.
Asked to describe its target audience, Cox says that it consists of mostly regulars, who are middle-aged folks, young families, and also people in their twenties via TikTok. But with the recent publicity emanating from the James Beard Award, it's been attracting more tourists than before.
Country Bird Bakery's staff consists of 6 bakers, who are in production, and 3 of them also work up front helping guests when we open, and one serves as part-time dishwasher.
Cox acknowledges that winning the James Beard Best Pastry Chef award is prestigious and is grateful but admits it can be 'intimidating.' And it raises customer expectations. Asked how it can be used to generate more revenue, she replies 'that remains to be seen.'
Opening a second bakery in Tulsa would be tricky because there's a small pool of talented pastry chefs to draw from. Asked the keys to the continued success of her bakery, Cox replied, 1) My team, 2) Commitment to sourcing incredible produce from the local farms, 3) Community support.
