Bohemian Bakery sold its last flaky almond croissant at 78 Barre Street on June 27 before closing temporarily to move a few blocks to a new, larger space in the heart of Montpelier. Co-owner Annie Bakst said the bakery is tentatively scheduled to reopen in two adjoining storefronts at 81 and 83 Main Street on July 9 after a short break.
The new high-profile location at the corner of State and Main streets was most recently the Blue Stone but is best known as the decades-long home of Coffee Corner, a beloved diner. Bohemian will also take over the neighboring space, which was previously a real estate office.
“It’s a beautiful location in the center of town,” Bakst said. “We were ready to make a move.”
Bakst and her husband, Robert Hunt, started baking wood-fired bread in 2003 at their East Calais home. In 2010, the couple began hosting pop-ups in their gardens with pastry and coffee brewed from house-roasted beans. Those events were so popular that they were encouraged — and practically obliged — to open their Montpelier bakery in 2017.
Since late April 2020, Bohemian has offered a limited menu of pastries and coffee with window service only. When the bakery reopens, seating will again be available — and there will be more of it. Like the former location, however, this one will have no table service. “It’s not a restaurant; it’s still a bakery,” Bakst said.
The menu will gradually expand to include a larger pastry case and a full array of Bohemian’s pre-pandemic offerings, such as quiches, salads and prewrapped sandwiches. “We are also hoping to make some breads again,” Bakst said, “though not sourdough and not right away.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Croissants at the Crossroads”
This article appears in The Cartoon Issue 2021.
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