Every weekday morning before the sun rises, Alex and Crystal Koehn are up and working. The Mennonite couple serves the Livingston area with homemade baked goods and hot, from-scratch meals at Touch of Home Bakery.
“Our mission statement is serving fresh, home-cooked meals and being a place that feels like home,” Crystal Koehn said. “To come home to your grandma’s cooking.”
The small and modest restaurant and bakery on North Street has been a staple in Livingston for over three decades, adding a unique and charming character to the downtown area.
Crystal Koehn’s grandmother, Vivian Devine, opened Touch of Home Bakery in July 1993. She remembers helping out in the bakery as a child. In the summers, she came in to work, just as her children do now.
Devine greeted every customer with a joyous smile. Almost all of the recipes, including the popular bread items, were passed down from Crystal Koehn’s grandmother.
“She would want it to be kept simple and home-cooked, fresh with a smile,” Crystal Koehn added. “That's what she always said, ‘Serve it with a smile.”
The passion for filling the bellies and warming the souls of others in the community has been passed on through generations of the Mennonite family. Crystal Koehn’s parents took over the business in 1999 and ran it until January of 2025, when Alex and Crystal took over. In true family-owned business style, Alex Koehn gave up his trucking business to help devote his time to the bakery, where his grandmother also once worked.
For 33 years, the main menu has stayed the same. Each day has a different offering. On Monday, guests can choose meatloaf, roast pork, poppy seed chicken, beef tips over rice or fried chicken tenders for their entrée. The sides each Monday are macaroni and cheese, purple hull peas, salad or French fries. The menu changes each day. Fried catfish day grew so popular that the restaurant began serving it twice a week.
“I think my parents did that,” Crystal Koehn remembered. “They used to only do fish on Wednesdays when they added it on Fridays. Those are our biggest days, Wednesdays and Fridays. The line will be people waiting. I just can't believe it. People will be all the way to the drink counter all the way around.”
The Koehns make a concerted effort to make only as much food as they need each day. They track when school is out and when court is in session. Each morning, they discuss the day’s expectations with their staff, which is mostly young people from their Mennonite community. The goal is to keep costs as low as possible so they can keep prices low.
From lemon meringue pie to red velvet cake and sticky bun pastries, the Koehns continue to serve customers with a smile while honoring the legacy of Vivian Devine.
Hard work is part of that legacy. Crystal Koehn remembers her grandmother continuing to come into the bakery even after she was placed in a nursing home. She would leave the facility and come to help out, answering phones and greeting guests. There is no doubt that to Vivian Devine, the bakery was truly a touch of home.
Touch of Home Bakery is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is served daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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