After January sale fell through, Lexington bakery found new owners after all
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- January sale fell through and Jim Betts went back to work in the kitchen.
- Jasen and Kellie Fontaine bought the bakery and assumed daily operations in July.
- Menu, hours and most employees remain the same while founders will assist during holidays.
In January, Bluegrass Baking Company founders Jim and Francine Betts thought they had a path to retirement. But the sale of the bakery they’d operated for 35 years fell through and Jim went back to work in the kitchen.
“I was pretty distraught after that and having to go back to work,” Betts said in an interview.
Then, something almost miraculous happened.
“I got a call from a young man ... and I was so unhappy I told him all the bad stuff ... how it’s a lot of work. I definitely was not pushing it. But he persevered,” Betts said. “It certainly was more made-to-be than the other (deal.)”
About six months after that conversation, the bakery has officially been sold to Jasen and Kellie Fontaine, who have lived in the area for eight years.
Jasen Fontaine said that he heard about Bluegrass Baking Company through a friend. “I talked to Kellie about what that would look like,” he said. And they decided to go for it.
Both will be involved in the day to day running of the business, which they took over last week.
Jasen has extensive experience in hospitality, including commercial baking, although not at the scale of Bluegrass Baking Company, which has been a fixture in Lexington’s culinary scene for decades.
He’s currently managing two boutique hotels, the Aldenberg Hotel in Versailles and the Ashberg Hotel in Frankfort. He plans to continue juggling that and the bakery for now.
Kellie Fontaine, who is assistant kids ministry director at Center Point Church, has extensive administrative experience (she also homeschooled their four kids) and also plans to continue her job as well as working in the bakery.
Betts said he’s confident this time the bakery is in good hands.
“He’s planning on starting at midnight and working straight through then going to his other job,” Betts said. “That’s how I know it will work, he’s as crazy as I was.”
Both the menu and the hours will remain the same. Employees who want to stay are staying, while a few are moving on to new adventures.
“We want to keep the tradition that Jim and Francine have built, and when we see opportunities to make improvements and add things, we will,” Jasen Fontaine said.
So far, reaction from the customers has been very positive, he said.
“People are just excited it’s going to stay open,” Jasen Fontaine said.
Kellie Fontaine said she does not have as much baking experience, “but I will be taste testing a lot.”
Fontaine said that what he likes about baking is that “it becomes alive, and you’ve got to stay one step ahead. It’s a labor of passion. It’s been a lot of fun getting to learn this operation and all of the recipes.”
And Jim Betts will still be around the kitchen some, particularly as the holidays come up and customers start coming in asking for special breads and pies.
“Christmas is the biggest time for a bakery, so I’ve offered to help out at that time, just to make sure he’s ready,” Betts said.
Bluegrass Baking Company
Where: 3101 Clays Mill Road, #108
Hours: Tuesday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday
