Behind the Scenes with All You Knead Bakery, Artisan Bakers

I'm somewhat of a small business junkie. I love stepping into the stores on Main Street and hearing the latest news of how business is going, and what latest tools they are using (like Square or Swipely?). When I lived in Manhattan, I'd do this with the taxi drivers, and boy did I get an earful when taxis were forced to accept credit cards. Hence my fascination with the Uber/Gett high class taxi drama that I wrote an article for: "An 'Open Interview' for Josh Mohrer, GM of Uber Regarding Gett Competition Tactics".

Such was the case when I was buying my weekly bread from Simone at All You Knead Bakery, the artisan bakers who left their digs in the old high school to claim a storefront location on Main Street several years ago. Simone was telling me about how she survived when her business partner and head baker suddenly put in his two weeks notice to quickly retire. Simone didn't know how to bake.

I interviewed Simone for Tin Shingle, my small business community based website and resource for small businesses that I run with my partner, Sabina Ptacin-Hitchen. I got the behind the scenes story of how All You Knead survived, and is thriving on Main Street, local farmers markets and nearby market grocery stores like Adams Fairacre Farms: "Rolling in Dough: When All You Knead Bakery Needed to Learn How to Bake" Talk about a Little Engine that Could! As is the nature of running and building a small business.

Click here for the full interview >

Beacon Pantry: Cutest Little Grocery Store

UPDATE [7/8/15]: Beacon Pantry has moved! To 382 Main Street and now has outdoor seating and more seating inside.
 
Food is getting so GOOD on Main Street Beacon! Pretty soon we will have no excuses for not knowing what to make for dinner.  

Beacon's newest foodie destination is the Beacon Pantry, located just past the middle part of Main Street at 382 Main Street, Beacon Pantry sells artisanal and farmstead cheeses, charcuterie and fine foods, with an emphasis on domestic, small-scale products. Tasting of the cheese is encouraged in the shop. Do start including Beacon Pantry on your Second Saturday walks for specialty tastings! Beacon Pantry also plans on offering cheese classes.

Beacon Pantry's cute, cream shelves adorn dark wood floors and are stocked with the finest pastas and sauces. Their freezer is a full meal, dessert included, with vegi burgers from Little Green Food's Handcrafted Burger line. You'll also find in the freezer what seems to be some of the best ice creme on the planet, Brooklyn-based Phin & Phebes. The first flavor these ice creme creators made was based on Ritz crackers, chocolate, peanut butter and a few other crave-worthy ingredients. A must-have in your freezer? Yes. 

Can we discuss this little but mighty sign? Carrot cake, lemon cake, and chocolate truffle tart. Something tells me that this small sign will change at whim. The dessert rack is on top of the fine cheeses and meats. Italian sausages, blue cheese, and many other choices tempt you as you go to pay for your goodies.

Immediately you get a supportive vibe while in Beacon Pantry, and the proof is on the shelves. More Good syrups are available here in at least four flavors including the ginger ale and root beer, which is extra awesome because More Good has opened up their new store down a few blocks.

Bakeries in Beacon, NY: So Many Yummy Bakery Choices!

Main Street in our small town of Beacon, NY is quickly becoming one of the best destinations for bakery-hopping. The actual street of Main Street is quite long, and in fact, used to connect two towns. Our small town is big enough to house a bakery for everyone's craving. There used to be one bakery in town. Now, they need to be organized by category! Take your pick!

BAKERIES
ELLA'S BELLAS
Specialty: Gluten Free Bakery Treats
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Woopie Pie
Treats You'll Love: Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies, Specialty Cakes, Brownies, Apple Pie, Soups, Tas Cafe Coffee


ALL YOU KNEAD ARTISAN BAKERS
Specialty: Bread
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Samosas, Chicken Pot Pies
Treats You'll Love: Chocolate Croissants, Blueberry and Different Flavored Muffins, White and Oat Bread, More Bread



GET FROSTED
Specialty: Cupcakes
Treats You'll Love: Butter Frosting, Coffee Garnishes, Pink Sprinkles, Cupcake Art



CAFE BAKERY TREATS
HOMESPUN
Specialty: Lunches and Deep Dish French Toast
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: Chocolate Mouse
Treats You'll Love: Any Flavor Quiche, Middle Eastern Plate (hummus, baba ghanoush, feta), Carrot Cake, Tiramisu, Teas, Coffee, Orangina, Cheeses, Little Toasts, Eating Outside on the Back Patio


BEACON BREAD COMPANY
Specialty: Bread + Eat-In Cafe
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: a honey bread something that I need to double check the name of.
Treats You'll Love: Grilled Cheese + Soup, Beer Bread



GROCERY STORE BAKERIES
BEACON PANTRY
Specialty: European Grocery Items, Cheeses
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: The whole store is filled with different treats. Every day could be different!
Treats You'll Love: More Good Sryup, Phin + Phebe Ice Creme, Dry Pasta, Frozen Vegi Burgers, Tarts


BEACON BAGEL
Specialty: Bagels
Treats You Wouldn't Expect: he's always inventing a special sandwich...
Treats You'll Love: Lattes, Order the "Double Egg + Cheese Bagel Sandwhich"

The Coffee Pantry in Cold Spring: Slow Down and Pull Over!

At the base of mountains around Cold Spring, nestled along Route 9, attached to the vegetable and flower market Vera's, is the unassuming yet very amazing Cold Spring Coffee Pantry, which I've never seen before in all the times that I've driven by on my way to visit friends in Sleepy Hollow or White Plains. The Coffee Pantry is quite perfectly, one of the best looking coffee shops I've ever been into. Not only that, but its ambitious drink and bakery menu is unstoppable. This coming week, starting Tuesday March 18th 2014, they are pouring for the first time wine and craft beers, by the bottle or by the glass for those lounging in the Coffee Pantry (drinks must be consumed on premises and not taken away).

Let's start with the coffee. Our friends told us about this spot one play date when we were discussing coffee and my current obsession with my Aero Press from Bank Square here in Beacon. Our friends loved Bank Square and our local coffee shops of course, but they also shared their favorite weekend spot, the Cold Spring Coffee Pantry as their "splurge" coffee, which it may be at $2.50 a cup. Each cup is manually brewed in a flat bottom drip, French press, or espresso style. But for the right brew of a bean, this is quite worth it. So let's talk about the coffee brands for a minute.The Coffee Pantry carries a wide variety of brands, including Irving Farm Rosters, Handsome Coffee Roasters (my fave name of a blend: "Handmade & Damn Handsome...just makes me giggle!), Counter Culture, and many others! 

Then there is the juice bar, with a selection of extremely healthy juice drinks on the menu, the produce of which comes from Vera's next door, which isn't sprayed with anything and some is organic. Talk about local farm to your cup! 

And now let's delight in Ella's Bella's Bakery, having their own walk of deliciousness along the side wall and across from what looked like the craft beer kegs. Gluten free and vegan for those of you who need it, and plenty if butter based pastries for those if us who butter is a staple in our diets. Croissant sandwiches, chocolate, quiche, blackberry chia oat bars, whoopie pies...?

I can't even type this anymore because I'm getting so hungry and need to get in the car to start my Route 9 errands, hitting the Coffee Pantry first, even though it's in the opposite direction of where I need to go, as I'm headed to Poughkeepsie to fix a sewing machine, hit up a party store, and grocery shop at Hannafords.

Yum!

Warm Lunch at Home Idea: Pockets from All You Knead Bread, Artisan Bakers

Stopping in to All You Knead Bakery, the bread store in the middle of Main Street, to get my breakfast bread and bagels, I saw a larger variety of the warm pockets that you can take home and warm up in your oven for an easy and nutritious lunch! I melt provolone or mozzarella cheese on mine and warm a side of tomato sauce and pretend its a calzone.

And OMG, the proprietress gave me one of her vegetable Samosas that just came out of the oven, and OMG, it is so good! Fresh peas, ginger, other things, and a great dough wrapped around. Thank you All You Knead Bakery! I've been really missing my Samosas that used to be in walking distance when I lived in Manhattan, and now I can walk to you!

Egg and Spinach on a Brioche Bun Breakfast Sandwich at Beacon Bread Company

On Saturday morning, I met with the girls who run Hudson Valley Compass, the new website that helps you find things to do in the Hudson Valley. Beyond meeting two great people, I was really looking forward to trying a breakfast sandwich at Beacon Bread Company. I'm very particular about my breakfast sandwich, and on the weekend, I can pull out all stops for a large meal to carry me through to a great Saturday night dinner.

I ordered the egg sandwich on a Brioche bun. My breakfast partners ordered an omelet with spinach, which we learned was a garlic infused sautéed spinach. I piggybacked that side and added it to my order, and also ordered Gouda cheese in my scrambled egg sandwich. The eggs can come in any style you want. And they were gracious enough to let us be picky with our orders.

I like a cheesy egg sandwich, where cheese is oozing out the sides, and this cheese was scrambled in, so no ooze, but still delicious and hit the spot. Plus, I felt so healthy with the topping of spinach! To add to the excitement was my freshly squeezed orange juice, the squeezer machine of which you can see behind the counter. It's like a Farris wheel of oranges.

The Brioche bun filled me right up and I didn't need hash browns, although could have handled them. Just in the nick of time, the chef had finished cooking a bread pudding with raisins and maybe cinnamon, a sample of which was delivered to our table. OMG. Danger. You could easily have that bread pudding instead of French toast! Was so good.

For a great overview of Beacon Bread Company and how they started, check out this interview done by Wigwam. As for their bread, what owner and boulanger d’pain Ralph Clemente says in that interview is true: “Bread is just something I do. I know bread.” Yes he does. I've been buying loaves from Beacon Bread and All You Kneed for all of my bread needs since they opened.

Kids Writing Pad Tools, Water Wow Pad at Vogel Pharmacy Drugstore

If you wish it, Main Street in Beacon has it. My daughter Ruby has expressed interest in learning her letters, but she's getting really frustrated at not being able to write letters on demand, so throws the pen and paper across the room.

 

Not a great solution. But what IS a great solution is tracing letters to learn and get satisfaction from making those shapes! Now that my brain was piqued to find this solution, Ruby and I headed to Vogel Pharmacy drugstore to shop their kids section for a birthday present. While there, I told Ruby to look for letter making things. A little birdie from behind the counter heard me, and showed me these Melissa and Doug water pads, the Water Wow, where you fill up this pen brush with water, and trace these letters! Then wipe it away and write it again! They had all kinds of pads, like trucks and numbers. Solution solved!

 

And the other thing Vogal had was a pack of card games including Go Fish! Which I was also wishing for to A. give us a family game, and B. to help the kids strengthen their visual memory matching! 

Thanks Vogel Pharmecy and Melissa and Doug!