SoapZone Community Message Board

A bit of backstory...about a year ago, a lot was cleared and a large building started taking shape on the property. There was much speculation about what it was going to be, with the prevailing theory being it was going to be a restaurant/brewery. My small town has plenty of restaurants but no brewery (and now that I'm thinking about it, we don't have any traditional "bars", though there's several sit down restaurants with a bar area inside). I was excited at the prospect of a new restaurant...

And then they put up the sign. The building is one large "room" and a smaller "room" attached; over the large room, it said "Victoria's Bakery" and over the small room, it just said "Coffee".

I was initially disappointed; my small town, which had NO coffee shops maybe 15 years ago, now has two that are extremely good: The Coffee Post and my beloved Versare Café. Both also have excellent pastries...did we need another bakery?

It turns out we did <g>. Because Victoria's Bakery makes bread, bagels and full size cakes in addition to cookies, brownies, etc. They're also already known for their macarons. The young lady who runs the place was already baking (out of her kitchen?) and selling her baked goods to a few local restaurants and wanted to expand to a brick and mortar.

Victoria's Bakery has only been open for a few weeks. And right now, they're only open on Saturday from 8:00 AM-noon. And the coffee part doesn't look open at ALL yet. But my aunt mentioned last week that she'd seen on Facebook that VB was open Saturdays now, and the past few Saturdays, not only was there a line out the door, they also sold out long before noon.

I couldn't resist that <g>. I'd intended on being over there by 8:00, but I slept in a bit and didn't make it up to the bakery until 8:30. I was one of six people still standing outside; inside was probably another 30 people. One tiny gripe: a lot of the people inside were together. Almost everyone was either with a partner or with a partner and children. Was it necessary to bring the entire family on a pastry run? I was behind a lovely gentleman with whom I struck up a brief conversation. A bit later, he apparently texted his wife and told her to come down and bring the kids. Just...why? His two daughters were young--I'm guessing maybe 3 and 5?--and sleepy and crabby and bored, and the oldest was amusing herself by slugging her mom, HARD, in the leg repeatedly, to the point where my inner parent wanted to haul her outside and spank her (but of course I would never do that). Mom never said a word to her li'l precious.

Inside, a couple things surprised me. First, there's no menu. Nor was there one on Facebook (and VB doesn't have a website yet...or might never). So you just have to hope they have something you want. Second, there was a sign saying "cards only". Actually, it said "We are cashless. Cashless is quick. Cashless is clean. Cashless is accurate. And as a predominantly female business, cashless is safe." I was a bit surprised...personally, I feel businesses should accept ALL forms of payment. At least one (probably old) woman left a negative review online, mad because she'd driven from Geneva, found out the place didn't take cash, and didn't have a card on her (I would've sent her over to Versare). While I'm familiar with businesses that don't take cash, they're usually either in the inner city or super upscale, with merchandise costing in the hundreds, even thousands of dollars. My small town is so ridiculously safe (overall), it's not terribly unusual for folks to leave their car unlocked and running when popping into a store for a few things. But still, I get it and hey, it's their business--they can do whatever they want.

I will be curious if the place stays in business. On the one hand, their baked goods ranged from very good to outstanding. I got seven--7!--things to try (and to share with my aunt and my dad): the honey yuzu macaron, the chocolate croissant and the chocolate raspberry cream puff were all to die for, though the croissant could maybe have used a bit more chocolate inside. The asiago bagel was delicious but a touch too chewy on the outside. The shamrock frosted sugar cookie was also delicious but not the absolute best sugar cookie I've ever had (DS Cakes in Newbury is a bit better in that department). And both the triple chocolate cookie and the plain brownie were good but just a teeny bit dry. But all seven items were of good size (the macaron was easily twice the size of other macarons I've had) and altogether cost me $22, so the value was outstanding.

BUT...the place has a very "Gen Z" feel. I was served by Chef Victoria herself (I forgot to mention there's a person at the start who has a metal tray that they place your items on, and another person at the end--in my case, Chef Victoria, boxes everything and rings you out. Chef Victoria looks to be around 25 or so, and she's sporting blue hair and arms covered with tattoos. Nothing that would cause you to bat an eye in the big city (I absolutely don't care), but in my small, aging, semi-rural town that prides itself on feeling a bit "folksy" and "down home-y", I'm not sure people will continue to support the business after the curiosity and the "buzz" wear off.