BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A popular Bed-Stuy bakery will return to the neighborhood this summer after a fire shuttered its space last year.
After selling pastries and sandwiches at pop-ups and food festivals for the last year, Bread Love will open a new brick and mortar shop on Fulton Street by July.
“We took the show on the road because there was nowhere else to go,” said owner Lloyd Porter. “It was good though, because it allowed us to create experiences and spread a little Bread Love around.”
A May fire ravaged the café’s former location in the stable house of the 375 Stuyvesant Ave. mansion, which was only opened for about a year before the blaze.
No major injuries were reported, but the store was badly damaged and the caretakers of the mansion eventually bowed out of managing the space.
Porter and his wife Hillary took their baked goods to local vendors and events, including an urban farmstand and Sunday supper club at Weeksville Heritage Center, while they searched for a new spot.
The couple passed over 45 spaces in their search for a new location, including a former funeral home and doctor’s office, Porter said.
Bread Love’s new home at 1933 Fulton St., near Howard Avenue, will allow the team to bring back its greenhouse and aquaponics unit, as well as offer additional menu items using ingredients from local farms.
“The neighborhood needs more farm fresh, healthy food and that’s what we hope to offer,” Porter said.
“We’re just glad to find a place where we can still serve a community that we’re really proud to be in.”
The shop will feature a rotisserie for roast chicken, a 1,000-square-foot backyard for dining and movie nights, and 12-foot tin ceilings.
The owners also plan to produce a new line of dairy and non-dairy ice creams and sorbets.
In addition to sweet treats like cakes, brownies, and scones, the café will cook full meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch.
Check out other new businesses in the area:
► Locale, a boutique selling independent, handcrafted items, is setting up shop at 410 Marcus Garvey Blvd.
Owners Don Edwards and Sandi Preston said they hope to create a “village collective” for micro-entrepreneurs, artists, and community members.
Items for sale will include jewelry, housewares, paintings and rugs, including handmade goods from networks in Peru and Nepal that support working families.
The boutique will host a soft opening in May and plans to debut in June with a series of block parties.
► Bed-Nos Wine opened at 296 Nostrand Ave. in mid-March, serving up wines from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and more. All bottles are priced at $20 and under, according to owners.
► Get your pizza fix at 2 Baci Pizzeria, 345A Nostrand Ave. The new restaurant is slated to open the first week of May with a variety of pies and pastas.
► Stonefruit Espresso + Kitchen will host its grand opening on April 29.
The farm-to-table coffee shop at 1058 Bedford Ave. will offer a variety of homemade, gluten-free and refined-sugar-free snacks, and owner Laura Sorensen plans to host cooking and baking classes for the community.
