May 13, 2014 – Good news for those with food allergies! The Monterey Bay area will soon welcome its first specialty bakery. Melinda’s Gluten Free opens the doors to its new 41st Avenue bakery with a soft opening on May 20 and a grand opening celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 1.
First as wholesalers, and then from a designated gluten-free portion of a shared kitchen at Aldo’s in Soquel, Melinda’s Gluten Free has been satisfying allergy-wielding customers with breads and baked goods for the past four years.
With offerings like hand-sliced honey oat bread and red velvet cupcakes, they’ve converted a fair amount of gluten-eating skeptics, too.
“The number one thing for us is that it has to taste so good that you don’t care what’s missing,” says co-owner Hannah Balliet.
Their popular products will still be available at Aldo’s, but the baking operation will relocate to the new shop, which was formerly home to Starz Cupcakes.
It will add vegan, nut-free and other types of specialized items to the Melinda’s Gluten Free repertoire. Balliet and founder Melinda Harrower want the bakery to be a place where people who are used to a diet of limitations can experience delicious possibilities suited to whatever their needs may be. In addition to the regular offerings, the owners take custom orders with 24 to 48 hour notice. Sandwiches, salads, hand-made pasta and gnocchi, quiche, seasonal pies, and fresh juice and coffee will also be served to go.
“[Dietary restrictions] are often a silent thing people tolerate—they just don’t eat things they can’t eat,” says Balliet. “I hate for people to feel like they have to withhold, or that it’s a burden for them. We want to be a place where no one is the odd one out.”
Unlike many bakeries that offer one or two specialty items as an afterthought, “this is our specialty,” says Balliet, who won an episode of Lifetime Network’s “Supermarket Superstar” with her recipe for gluten-free chai whoopee pies last year.
And they take their commitment to accommodating various diets seriously: in preparation for opening the 41st Avenue location, they had it treated like a hazardous materials scene. Cleaners in hazmat suits came in to the former cupcake bakery (which used dairy, gluten, etc.) and rid the space of any possibility of cross contamination. Moving forward, all vegan items will be made on dedicated equipment, and, while the entire bakery will be peanut free, items that include other tree nuts will also be contained to specialized equipment.
The first challenge Melinda’s faced was creating products that surpassed the admittedly low taste bar for gluten-free baked goods. Often referred to as “food scientists,” the owners use individualized flour blends and quality ingredients to create flaky croissants, perfect baguettes, and finger-licking treats.
“We wanted to fill that chasm, and we have,” says Balliet. “Now we need to get people to know it’s here.”
Their presence at Aldo’s earned them the following they needed to branch out on their own, says Harrower. And with no model to base their endeavor on locally or elsewhere, the owners are allowing local demand to guide their growth and mission. They hope to eventually expand to other small locations locally.
“We live and breathe everything we do,” Harrower says. “We have so much passion for our products that it feels like opening this bakery is like sending our art out into the world. We just can’t wait to have people come and taste our art.”
Melinda’s Gluten Free
1440 B., 41st Ave. Capitola
Soft opening May 20; grand opening June 1.
Open M and W-Sa from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Su 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Tu.
About the author
Elizabeth Limbach is an award-winning journalist living in Santa Cruz, California. In this fruitful region and beyond, she finds the intersections of food, ag, health and the environment to be the most intriguing realms to write about. A bookworm and vegan foodie, the San Diego native has lived in Santa Cruz for a decade, relishing its redwood forests, fresh produce, delicious wines, and sparkling sea.
