Courtney Colangelo has always wanted to open her own bakery.
After years of working in and leading other bakeries, such as Atlanta’s Little Tart Bakeshop, and working alongside famed bakers like the New York Times–bestselling cookbook author Cheryl Day, she knew she had the experience to back up her dream. She just needed the right location.
It wasn’t until a serendipitous stroller walk by a coffee van that the pieces started to come together. On a daily walk with her now two-and-a-half-year-old son, Colangelo encountered her North Charleston neighbors Bryson and Savanna Purcell building out a coffee van.
“I was like, ‘What is this going to be? Is this going to be a coffee truck?’ ” she said. “And they told me [yes],and I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy because I’m a baker, and I’ve been trying to start something, but I’m not ready to go [straight to] a brick-and-mortar.’ ”
That coffee van ended up becoming the uber-popular Park Circle–based Prophet Coffee, which opened its Spruill Avenue stand-alone earlier this year. Colangelo started popping up with her pastries at the van and has continued supplying the shop with her goods as they’ve expanded. Now, it’s her turn.
Coming together
Colangelo hopes to have Cakette Bakeshop up and running at 4546 Durant Ave. by early December. She takes over the lease of the space formerly occupied by the Park Circle Co-op.
The bakery will be a quick-service, to-go business with most of the inside dedicated to the baking kitchen. Guests will be able to order from an indoor to-go counter. There will be some outdoor seating and a simple menu of daily pastries. Eventually, Colangelo wants to offer egg sandwiches and a simple drip coffee and cold brew menu.
A Park Circle resident herself, Colangelo noticed that there were not a lot of take-away restaurants in the area offering quality food.
“I want this to be a neighborhood bakery where everyone can walk there, grab your coffee and your pastry and then walk down to the park,” Colangelo said. “Our plan right now is to just start kind of small and build on it and see what people want.”
Colangelo is used to catering to locals’ needs; she amended her pop-up offerings after hearing from people that they wanted to see more vegan and gluten-free options. She said her following “took off” after she expanded what she was baking, and that the Park Circle community has been continually warm and welcoming.
“That’s what has given me the momentum to keep going,” she said of the local support. Seeing her pastries selling out at Prophet didn’t hurt either. Despite her successes, however, Colangelo was still hesitant to jump into opening her own spot — especially after seeing how incredibly difficult it can be to succeed.
“I always have wanted to own my own bakery one day, but it’s just so costly to do any type of restaurant or food concept. And so to be honest, it’s always just been out of reach for me,” she said. Taking over the lease at 4546 Durant, though, offers Colangelo the opportunity to grow in a manageable and sustainable way.
“I was like, ‘OK, it’s not going to cost me a lot to get some equipment in here and bake and make something out of this,’ ” she said. “And so that’s kind of what I’ve been working on — and letting it take shape.”
Colangelo is currently asking that folks looking to support her new venture continue to show up at her weekly pop-ups. Learn more about Cakette on Instagram @cakettebakeshop.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.