So, I was encouraged by a entrepreneur friend of mine to post my adventures in opening my first bakery + cafe, due to open in Mount Pleasant (on Main Street at 15th Ave), in Vancouver, BC - Spring of 2012 (cross fingers). Do you really want to read about my dizzying adventures of opening a retail space and developing recipes?
I actually don't know where to start, it's so far an overwhelming experience where I need to pinch myself a number of times over the course of a day and have occasional panic attacks of "OMG, what the *bleep* am I doing??" followed by extreme vertigo, hyperventilation and fainting spells. Over dramatic? Maybe
(but not really).
Hmmm... where do I start?
You see, I don't know anything about the restaurant industry, just that I love food (I have a pretty picky palate) and have traveled quite a bit visiting bakeries and cafes locally, USA and Europe. I started my passion for baking when I was a kid. Growing up in a Chinese family in Vancouver that focused mainly on Chinese village food and Cantonese cuisine, we had the occasional frozen pepperoni pizza thrown in as a side with a bowl of plain congee or the grocery store apple pie and/or strudels for breakfast. My parents didn't know really how to bake, except for my mom, who lovingly tried her best to create egg tarts, sponge cakes and savoury pies on occasion which were definitely a treat for us. I remember her orange sponge cake where she would 1/2 the sugar amount found in whatever recipe she used, but it was still so good - because she made it from scratch. I used to wish so badly that she would make cookies, brownies and cakes - sweets that I saw at the Quality Bakery (no longer on Dunbar and 29th Ave), Stong's Grocery and in the lunch bags of my friends during recess and lunch. Ooooo and those "fried" cherry hand pies covered in an overly sweet icing that you could buy at the grocery stores - I can still remember the red/white/green packaging in my mind. I loved those. OMG did I love those... and the black forest cakes from Safeway!
My first attempt at baking when I was about 4 years old. My grandmother was home but either taking a nap or around the house when I was inspired to make Rice Krispie squares. I remember my sister making them so how hard could it be? Seemed easy enough! So I climbed onto the counter top, turned on the yellow coloured electric stove and put a big box of Rice Krispies on the red hot element - the box began to burn and smoke filled the kitchen. Boy, did I cause a kerfuffle (but then again, I almost burned down the house) but I remember that moment etched in my mind like it was yesterday.
My next attempt at baking was about 5 years later, I was around 9 when I made my first batch of brownies. I think I got the recipe from the Home Maker's magazine booklets that were sent for free to the households. From then, it was love. I made my own birthday cake for a few years after that, and most notably, a brownie ice cream cake in my teens where I literally ate 3/4s of it on my own. But from then on, I have been obsessed with what I call "North American Nostalgic Comfort" that encompasses brownies, old fashion cakes (especially chocolate), cookies and bars. I have countless baking recipe books which I pour over for hours and hours just reading the ingredient lists, the stories behind them, gorgeous pictures and - the most important - the techniques.
Here my journey begins towards my new life as a bakery + cafe owner - I hope you enjoy my posts and follow the journey with me.
hugs.
