Bakery in bloom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/09/2023 (842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rachel Nedelec’s baking has reached the Grammys and Australia, an international fashion house and at least one yoga studio.

Next week, Flour & Flower will have a permanent home — its first brick-and-mortar bakery.

“I said, ‘I want it, I need it, this is my space,’” Nedelec recounted, laughing.

She and her real estate agent had heard the spot at 530 Waterloo St. was coming available. It was déjà vu: Nedelec first toured the site in early 2020, when her business was not yet half a year old.

Demand had already bloomed for her cakes and cookies, which are decorated with edible flowers and often custom designed.

Rose petal caramel corn and floral-covered brownies also top her menu.

Nedelec was ready to dive into the lease on Waterloo when a niggling feeling stopped her.

“I just wanted to wait until this, you know, world pandemic thing that everybody talked about, to see what that was going to be all about,” Nedelec said.

She didn’t sign the lease. Within a week, Manitoba experienced its first COVID-19-induced lockdown.

Businesses have come and gone through the space on Waterloo over the past three years. Nedelec, 40, continued looking for a location “but nothing … really felt right.”

“This has always been the spot,” she said on a Friday in September.

Her commercial oven had just arrived — it can fit 10 trays of cookies.

Flour & Flower is now purchasing thousands of edible flowers weekly. Violas, pansies, zinnias, cosmos, lavender and roses come from Manitoba and the United States.

Nedelec and her small team used a shared commercial kitchen off Roblin Boulevard throughout Flour & Flower’s growth.

“I didn’t know how to use a commercial oven,” Nedelec reminisced. “It was all just completely brand new to me and my staff.”

Her business sprouted the summer of 2019. She’d baked a cake for her grandfather’s birthday, peppering it with pansies and violas from her own garden.

Curiosity budded; soon, Nedelec was researching edible flowers and testing new baking. Word of mouth and social media fertilized her sales, and within the season, she was setting up shop in a commercial kitchen.

Wedding cakes, chocolate pops and shortbread adorned with flowers were sold online and through markets during the pandemic.

Flour & Flower had a taste of brick-and-mortar life in 2021, peddling goods in South Studio, a yoga studio by Kenaston and Grant, for several months.

It started with an idea for Winnipeg VegFest’s vegan dessert week — how about crumbled vegan brownie in a plant pot with a chocolate pop flower?

“(Nedelec) had nowhere to show it off,” recalled Samantha Globerman, South Studio’s owner.

The two entrepreneurs were childhood friends. Why not sell the dessert in part of the yoga studio? They figured they’d try.

Flour & Flower won the people’s choice award for best vegan dessert that year.

“I’m really proud of her,” Globerman said. “I’ll be going (to the new bakery) lots to visit.”

This past January, Nedelec contacted the Grammys on a whim, pitching her treats for the award show’s gift bags.

They accepted. A “pretty big” boost in sales followed, including from a massive Italian luxury fashion brand Nedelec couldn’t publicly share.

Her team has sent goods to Australia, the United States and a dog whose owners wanted vegan cookies for their pup.

“I thought (that) was awesome,” Nedelec remarked.

The dog also received a card.

Flour & Flower will open on Oct. 3. Customers should see bakers in the kitchen, icing cakes and applying pressed flowers, beyond the service counter. They might hear a Broadway show tune playing — Nedelec used to teach musical theatre, after all.

“We’re excited,” said Julia Reinke, a receptionist at neighbouring hair parlour Blush + Blonde Salon. “I think it’s a good spot. It’s a pretty long street, so you can get a wide crowd.”

She’s hoping for coffee, which Nedelec said would be available. The roughly 1,750-sq.-ft. space will have seating for six.

Flour & Flower Boutique Bakery will hire front-of-house staff and bakers depending on demand.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com