Stratford has a new spot for morning caffeine pick-me-ups, sweet treats and coffee meet-ups with the opening of Bake My Day & The Bean on Downie Street, across from the Avon Theatre.
Run by mother-daughter team Bri Cundick and Tabetha Cundick, the cafe builds on Tabetha’s existing butter tart business, Bake My Day, which has been operating out of St. Jacobs Farmers Market since 2014.
“She had a dream of having her own business so she could provide financially for her family,” explained Bri.
For almost ten years, Tabetha’s original business has offered butter tarts in dozens of different flavours ranging from maple bacon and nutella to coconut and cinnamon sugar. According to Bake My Day’s website, Tabetha’s butter tarts recently took home 2nd place in the ‘Wild Style’ division at Midland’s annual ‘Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival’ in 2022.
“Right from the start, she [Tabetha] has always made everything from scratch and we still plan on doing that,” said Bri.
Butter tarts will be a signature offering at the new Stratford cafe, but the brick-and-mortar location will also give the pair the extra space needed to expand the menu beyond this much-loved sweet treat, as well as the opportunity for Bri to join her mom in running an arm of the business.
“For me, it was that inspiration from my mom that has now created this mother-daughter duo,” said Bri.
Bri said the duo hope to partner with a local baker to source bread for housemade sandwiches. Cheesecakes in flavours like salted caramel are also available. Baked goods include a rotating selection of muffins, loaves, cookies and pies, all of which are made from scratch.
“Everything is handmade and homemade,” said Bri.
Bake My Day is working with small-batch roaster Baden Coffee Company, which is located just outside Stratford, to source beans for a drink line-up that includes drip coffee, espresso-based drinks like lattes and macchiatos, as well as cold frappes and iced coffees in varieties like caramel nut and vanilla. Ice coffee tasting sessions, which give customers the chance to sample a flight of four ice coffee flavours, are also available.
Bri and Tabetha have revamped the storefront interior, which was formerly home to Downie Street Burgers, with bakery displays. The walls have been painted in the green-and-black colour combo used throughout Bake My Day’s branding. A chalkboard menu on one wall displays the cafe’s daily menu.
Bri said the pair hope to set-up patio seating along Downie St. when the weather warms up.
“It’s a place to come and grab a coffee and a sandwich to-go, or to sit down with friends or even to work on your computer,” said Bri.
“I hope it's something relaxed and a space where people want to come reconnect with friends or kind of just relax and have a safe place to talk and...be cozy.”
Bake My Day & The Bean
107 Downie St, Stratford
Bakemydayandthebean.com
