This month’s cover package on bakeries is all about small indulgences.
It has been quite a while since we last focused on local bakers, and Food Editor Eileen Mellon and I thought the time was right to revisit the topic, with the number of local bakeries increasing dramatically in recent years.
In March 2020, when people were confined at home due to the pandemic, many of them began cooking more. Baking was not only a comforting activity, but one that helped to pass the time. The following month, I remember searching the grocery store for weeks for flour and sugar as suddenly everyone was baking sourdough bread — and documenting it on social media. As my husband and I were biking through the Fan, we passed a friend’s house and stopped to chat with her on her front porch. She shared her newfound obsession with bread baking and ran into the house to grab a hunk of her starter, which she placed in a plastic bag and wrapped in foil, handing it over along with a complicated set of instructions. My husband placed the precious cargo in an empty water bottle to transport it home, but that bread never got made — he forgot about it for a few weeks and got a big surprise when he went to wash out the bottle before his next ride. (Sorry, Rachel!)
On Page 84, writer Genevelyn Steele chronicles a day in the life of baker Jeff Laine, who was one of those people baking sourdough bread in 2020 after he was laid off from a job in spice sales. He turned this hobby into a business, opening Europa Crust bakery last August. We also meet a trio of cake bakers who create edible statement pieces on Page 82, hear the stories behind three successful bakeries (Page 86), and highlight vegan and gluten-free treats. No matter your dietary restrictions, everyone deserves a cookie.
On a decidedly less frivolous note, News Editor Scott Bass takes a sobering look at Richmond’s homicide rate, which last year was up 36% from 2020, with 90 homicides in the city, the highest count since 2004. According to the Richmond Police Department, there were also 297 aggravated assaults with a firearm in 2021 (a 10% increase from 2020) and 249 nonfatal shootings, up from 230 the year before. On Page 74, Bass looks at some of the factors that have driven this spike, including social media, a shortage of police officers and systemic issues.
And on Page 66, writer Davy Jones introduces us to jazz legend Lonnie Liston Smith, a native Richmonder who created an influential area of the jazz landscape. I loved learning about Smith and discovering his music. I hope you’ll read his story and give him a listen.
