If you have travelled to Europe in the past, you might want to schedule your next trip to the middle of Draper, Utah. 

Bake 360 is a locally owned cafe whose roots are buried deep in Scandinavian tradition. Roy Olsen, co-owner and pastry chef, hails his ancestors from Norway. 

Jennifer Olsen, his wife and co-owner gave the story: “My husband’s family immigrated here when his father was in his mid-40s, didn’t speak any English ... came here with six kids ...  and started over. He worked in a variety of kitchens. He was a baker, he specialized in breads and danish. Then they opened a series of small retail bakeries, specializing in marzipan cake, things like that. They closed the last one 11 years ago.” 

Several of the recipes were passed down from father to son, and are offered today, such as the Raspberry Almond Danish and Sara Bernhardt.

Because Roy grew up in a bakery, he was able to get his first executive pastry chef position at age 19, at Snowbird. Throughout his career he worked at various resorts expanding his Scandinavian recipes to encompass flavors from all over Europe. 

While working in downtown Salt Lake with an Italian chef, he started making tiramisu. Unfortunately, the Italian chef,  “told him it was total crap,” said Jennifer.

 Roy’s coworker brought in his Mother who was visiting from Italy, and she shared her recipe with Roy, which occupies a spot on Bake 360’s menu to this day. 

By 2012, Roy knew he wanted more freedom and creative license with his baking and cooking, so the family decided to open Bake 360. With his own business he could revive the recipes he had grown up with, as well as incorporate flavors and tastes he had cultivated while working with other chefs. 

They gave a name to their cafe that would reflect their diverse menu.

“Our title [is] Bake 360. The intent of that is offerings from around the world. It gives us flexibility to do a lot of different things. We’re not French, we’re not Scandinavian, we’re not Italian, we’re not German. We can be very flexible and open with the type of offerings we can have because of that name,” said Jennifer.

The Olsen’s want to give the community a place to come to re-live memories, or expand their culinary horizons passed the franchises on every corner.

 “The vision is bringing people back to a particular time or place in life where they’ve experienced true European pastry. We get a ton of people who come in and say that it’s as good, if not better, than what they had in France,” said Jennifer. 

The Olsens, residents of Sandy City, opened their cafe in July 2012, and expanded in June 2014. Bake 360 won Best of State for Pastry, Casual Dining 2014 and 2015, as well as Cafe, Casual Dining 2015.

They can be found at 12300 South 725 East in Draper, Utah, Tuesday through Sunday. 

Their website is www.olsenbake360.com