By Rich Bockmann
If you were to stop by the new Teaspoon Bakery early one morning with a craving for cake — or late in the afternoon longing for a scone — you may not necessarily find your particular treat available on the counter — but that’s a product of design.
“That’s what a bakery does — it runs out of things. You make things fresh and when you run out, they’re gone,” said baker Alissa Levine, who opened the Bayside bakery at 36-41 Bell Blvd. along with her husband, Josh Stern, in mid-May. “We don’t make a ton of things that sit on the counter for a week and a half.”
Levine said she had been an avid amateur baker for some time, and after a short stint in law school proved a bitter experience, a friend suggested she develop her saccharine savvy in culinary school.
With a pastry and baking arts diploma from the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan in hand, the Fresh Meadows native set out to bring some of the best elements from the city’s bakeries to her home borough.
“I spent a lot of time trying out bakeries in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I wanted to bring to Queens fresh-made daily, really high-quality ingredients,” said the Cardozo High School alumna.
Those ingredients include Callebaut chocolate as well as top-line cocoa powder, vanilla and flower — and everything is made with butter instead of shortening, Levine said.
“We don’t use any mixes; everything is made from scratch,” she said. “If I don’t make it here, I don’t sell it!”
Some of the things Teaspoon Bakery does sell include a variety of cupcakes and my pies — which are personalized by customers themselves — french sweet puffs, peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake balls.
“One woman told me her and her husband almost got divorced over the last one,” the co-owner quipped.
With 48-hours notice, the bakery provides catering services and specializes in dessert bars for weddings and parties.
Although it is a few blocks up the street from the area Long Island Rail Road station, Levine said the bakery gets plenty of foot traffic during the weekdays from rush hours and PS 41, at 214-43 35th Ave., and weekends see a lot of business from the Lutheran and Sacred Heart churches.
“Our neighbors, the dog groomer and vet do really good business, so their customers are always stopping by,” she said.
The bakery’s 1,000 square feet are split almost evenly between the front and the back in order to have an appropriately sized kitchen.
“I knew I needed a bigger kitchen if we wanted to grow as a business. If it isn’t big enough, you can’t get your product out there,” said Levine, who begins every day at 3:30 a.m. in the bakery’s kitchen.
The split leaves space for seating somewhat limited, but Levine said most customers usually stand and watch the goings on in the kitchen through the large window that separates the two areas.
“I wanted people to be able to see me sifting flower, chopping chocolate … the fresh fruit,” she said. “We don’t have anything to hide!”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
