After a 13-year run as Crescent Hill’s “dedicated gluten free, top 9 free, vegan bakery,” Annie May’s Sweet Cafe (3110 Frankfort Ave.) is closing its bricks and mortar in March. The bakery’s eponymous owner will transition her operations to a home-based model:
This bakery will become a home-based bakery in April, and you will be able to find all the baked goods you love at a farmers market near you.
All the details are revealed in a post at Facebook (complete text to follow).
I would like to thank everyone for 13 wonderful years at this location.
Unfortunately, I will be closing the doors here in March. Not only have the bakery sales been struggling since the pandemic hit, but the lease is up and I have decided not to renew it. I’ve had to make a lot of tough choices the last few years and the final choice was to try and make it to the end of the lease period and stay open as long as I could to serve you guys.
This meant cutting lots of expenses, including all my labor. If you did not know, I have been the only one (except for a few volunteers: thanks Valerie, Dad, Laura, and Kari!) baking, decorating, packaging, delivering, and answering the phone and emails, for the last five months.
Like many of you, I also struggle with autoimmune conditions and the stress of running a bakery post-pandemic and trying to keep up with high volume baking has definitely taken its physical toll. I have decided that I love baking too much to stop completely, so I’m moving the operations to a home-based baking business. You will still be able to place online orders, but the pickup location will change to a farmer’s market. I plan to have individual baked goods to sell at these locations as well.
This comes with a lot of changes that are important for you to know. First, there are limitations to the volume I can produce as well as some items I will not be permitted to create anymore. As a home baker, I cannot make a “free from” claim, but I’m still dedicated to creating the same allergen free treats that you know and love.
These items will be made in my home, on separate equipment than what I use personally. Due to my own allergies and intolerances, my home is free of gluten, wheat, eggs, soy, corn, and sesame. It is not free of dairy, peanuts, and tree nuts. I will continue to adhere to my current strict allergen standards when baking , but I understand if this is not an ideal situation for your allergens.
As a home bakery, I can no longer sell to other businesses as a wholesale operation and therefore, Rainbow Blossom and the current restaurants that purchase my bread (Oskars, Grind, River House) will not be able to sell my items. Grocery stores and restaurants can only sell from health department permitted establishments.
Again, I want to thank all of you for a wonderful 13 years. I will be providing details on the last few months of ordering in the next week. I hope you follow me along to this new adventure.
