Palisade is a beautifully quaint town equipped with complete gems and rich community. Walking through downtown is an experience in itself, with valuable quirks and small owned businesses. One bakery, Slice O’ Life, is an essential establishment of Palisade.
Since 1997, almost 28 years ago, founder Mary Lincoln’s legacy of “Baking the world better one batch at a time” has been instilled. Every pastry, sandwich, soup, and bread is created with local and Palisade grown ingredients. Summer fruit is collected from Palisade’s farmers markets and frozen over the year. Flour, honey, and walnuts are also locally sourced from western Colorado. Peach pastries, hot breads and rolls, muffins, cakes, and pies are all beautiful outcomes of these nourishing ingredients. This allows for the bakery to establish a special connection with the Grand Valley, its natural resources, and its residents.
Since early January, Slice O’ Life has been closed due to personal, familial reasons. Junior Claire Powell coined this as a disappointment considering she goes to the bakery frequently for lunch. “Some days we don’t have a long lunch break and don’t have enough time to go to Clifton. So, where do we want to go? Slice O’ Life,” explains Powell.
Slice O’ Life is convenient for students due to their fair prices, perfect amount of food, and close proximity to Palisade High School. Powell adds, “They have my favorite mocha and the pecan roll, that is just the best lunch.”
Businesses like Slice O’ Life are important to build a powerful and close community. The employees create an effort to create special connections with the customers. Powell and her friends are regulars at the bakery. Powell’s order of 16 oz. mocha and pecan rolls have been memorized by Slice O’ Life cashier, Katie Pellegrino, who strives to learn and remember customer’s names and specialties. Dining and supporting this Palisade hidden gem is imperative. “It’s a big part of downtown, everybody goes there,” concludes Powell.
The bakery reopened on March 4th, which excited loyal customers including Palisade residents and students like Powell. Pellegrino says, “We are excited to have all our regulars come back in and see us. We have been visiting with a lot of people that have been coming here for years.”
Pellegrino emphasizes the best thing about working at Slice O’ Life is “coming in to help create all these wonderful things.” Her highlights are “working with great people, providing people with the best customer experience and having a great day.”
Palisade is delighted to welcome Slice O’ Life back, with open arms and empty stomachs.
