The photogenic pastry in the image above announces the imminent opening of a Chicago branch of Sugar Hills Bakery (3235 W. Addison St., no phone yet), a leaping and bounding bakery business that currently has locations in Algonquin and Wheeling.
Although an elephant-ear-size slab of Sugar Hills’ baking goes to catering, weddings, banquets, hotels, and the like, the Chicago bakery—the first of four planned in the city—will have café tables and cookie decorating to promote a community vibe. It will also feature a breakfast and lunch menu, complete with quiches, artisanal egg sandwiches, and savory tarts, and an Intelligentsia-fueled espresso bar. October 3rd is the opening target.
“We do everything,” says Sugar Hills’ owner, Jacob Neminarz, a native of Poland. “Cakes, coffeecakes, pastries, cake pops, butter cookies, weddings, birthday, special occassions. Probably our bestseller is a cake called Ambrosia. It’s a chocolate and hazelnut cake and it has vanilla mousse and hazelnut mousse and fresh raspberries.”
“We don’t do donuts,” Neminarz says. Lest you think they won’t bow to the trend, though, he adds, “But we will start in Chicago.”
Update (9.24.13): Due to a wiring issue, Sugar Hills Bakery will have to push its opening date back a month. The new opening date will be November 4th.