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Monday, Oct. 20, 2008

Bakery scratches up sweet success

Remembrance of Things Past: Brown's Bakery in Meadowthorpe is a time machine. The aroma of sugar, butter, eggs and flour baking will transport you back to childhood and have you reaching instinctively for your mother's hand, remembering a time when the most momentous decision was which flavor cupcake to choose.

Dream on: James Brown, 37, has been a professional chef in Kentucky since 1996. He has a degree in hospitality management from UK and a culinary degree from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, where he was born and raised on the South Side. That said, and with the last name Brown, the question can't be avoided: Any relation to Leroy? "No, but we had a little brown Datsun we named Leroy," he laughs. Several years ago, when Brown was working as a Kroger chef, he revealed to Herald-Leader food writer Sharon Thompson that his dream for years was to open a scratch bakery in Lexington. Since then he's gone and done it. Oct. 18 was the two-year anniversary of Brown's Bakery.

Baking a go of it: Brown is forthcoming about the lumpy process of getting a business such as his going. There have been plenty of challenges. Early on, when times were tough and two employees quit at once, he often wondered, "What have I done?" followed by, "I gave up a salaried job for this?" And he still wonders sometimes. But he's learned to remind himself, "You are Brown's Bakery. This is your place. This is what you asked for."

He knows he was unrealistic about how quickly the business would take off. "I really thought things would skyrocket to the moon."

It's been more like a balloon ride — or a Bundt cake — slowly rising. And now he recognizes he's lucky to have opened when he did. In today's economy, "We could never have made it."

Bakers' hours: A typical workday starts at 3:30 a.m. and ends around 4 p.m. On days when Brown's there alone, he's multi-tasking like nobody's business, serving customers, baking bread, icing cinnamon rolls, brewing coffee, making doughnuts and the bakery's signature miniature desserts. His dream was a scratch bakery, so he does it all from scratch.

Waste not, want more: Brown's Bakery logo features a cupcake; he makes 21 varieties. Why are cupcakes so popular these days? "Ours make you feel good, and there's not a lot of waste. You can take a taste of red velvet or German chocolate without buying the whole cake."

Other popular products are mini-pies and sculpted cakes. He's expanded his breakfast menu, does a bustling mid-range wedding business and offers baking classes.

The meringues, which he was busy whipping up while he talked shop, are also good sellers. He prefers the Swiss recipe: "The French meringues are crybabies — they weep a lot," he explains. And Italian meringues? "Ship them off to Baked Alaska." Oh! There's the buzzer, telling him it's time to take the bread out of the oven, just as the meringue is heating up.

Family guy: The bakery has two part-time employees, but Brown says he's learned to depend most on himself and his family to get the job done. His wife, Bridget, an attorney with the Kentucky Education Association, helps out with baking on Saturdays and takes care of the business side of things. Their kids, ages 9, 3, and 15 months, are all for lending a hand too, preferably in the icing.

At first Brown was reluctant to have them underfoot, but then a customer enlightened him: "James, that's why we come here."

After all, Brown says, "This isn't some chic little establishment; it's a Mom and Pop place." And that means the bakery is like the Browns' fourth child. "My wife and I want to see it grow."

Product placement: The bakery was originally slated to be around the corner, where the rent was much lower but the visibility was too. The landlord asked him if he'd take this place instead.

His location facing west Main Street brings in more customers, he's sure. And new ones keep coming. "Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't stop in and say, 'How long you been here?'" he marvels. Signage helps.

A banner outside urges passersby to "Support your local bakery — Eat more doughnuts." It cost him $90 and has more than earned its keep.

By the people, for the people: Brown is a strong advocate for the locally owned business. He sometimes wishes the people downtown in elected office would be a little more spirited in their support. He knows it's essential to court the big guys, he says, but small business owners need love, too. "We live here. We're part of the community."

He also knows that some people want to support him as a minority business owner, and "if that gets them in, that's great," he says. He estimates about 90 percent of his customers are white. "But I hope they come back because of the quality, because they say, 'Gosh, he's got a really great bakery.'"

One of the things he enjoys most about the work is the conversations he gets into with people; he says it never fails that when he's feeling his faith being most tested, someone will stop in and say "this place smells like grandma's cooking," and instantly the day is brighter.

Brown has come to count many of his customers, white, black, male, female, Republican and Democrat, as friends. And "you can't put a price tag on that," he says.