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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Spiced pumpkin macarons
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Chef and owner Morgan Botwinick offering up a glorious pile of macarons
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Whisk's gougeres
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Out back, you'll find a quaint patio, which looks onto North 21st Street.
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Cheddar and bacon croissants
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Oreo-inspired whiskers cookies
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
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Photo by Stephanie Breijo
Morgan Botwinick has loved baking for as long as she can remember. She got it from her mama.
"It's something we did together and it's something I always enjoyed," the new business owner shares. "She and I always used to joke like, 'When we have our own restaurant...' or 'When we have our own cafe...' and just I never thought that was a reality."
But here she is in 2015, standing in Whisk, her crisp-white, gleaming Schockoe Bottom bakery: it's the culmination of years of practice, culinary school and, yes, joking with her mother. It wasn't until five or six years ago that Botwinick even imagined a life in the kitchen, but after graduating from college in the midst of the recession, she considered her lifelong love of baking and cooking. She enrolled in culinary school and moved to New York City, and after interning at Tribeca Treats, staging at Bouchon Bakery and graduating from the International Culinary Center (née The French Culinary Institute), a return to her home state of Virginia found her working as assistant pastry chef at The Jefferson and building a ravenous following at the St. Stephen's Farmers Market under the name of Sugar Baking Co. With so much momentum, the only move was forward. It was time to bring Whisk, her lifelong fictional bakery, into being.
"I just realized what I really wanted to do was be on my own, and so I started selling at farmers markets. I did that for about three years, "she says, "and this year was the year I just decided I was going to do it."
Botwinick's resulting bakery is fresh and bright, minimalist in design but still comfortable, in the former GlobeHopper Coffeehouse space at 2100 E. Main St. Rainbows reflect off a lengthy menu hanging near the cold case, sunlight streaming through colored glass windows near the ceiling and onto a laundry list of French-inspired classics. Éclaires, macarons, soufflés and the most pillowy of gougères will find their way onto the menu as daily offerings, as will muffins, coffee, espresso-based drinks, plus two sandwiches available for lunch on house-made bread. (You can also buy two rotating varieties of bread, plus a baguette and a honey wheat, by the loaf.) Next Wednesday, on Oct. 21, you can order some of these when the bakery soft-opens, and on Saturday, Oct. 24, you'll find the full menu available. Once its ABC license gets approved, Whisk will also sell beer and wine.
But the fun in this bakery's flavor isn't just inspired by French classics; it's also directed by classic American favorites. Items like Oreos influence enormous whiskers cookies with whipped, sugary filling sandwiched between dark, chocolatey cookies, and seasonal flavor profiles like spiced pumpkin and gingerbread will star in various baked goods throughout the fall. But Botwinick's culinary coup d'état is truly her croissants, both sweet and savory; it takes two days to make a batch. In a savory option, bacon and cheddar make their way into the dough, adding hearty morsels to each buttery, flaky layer. "They're definitely very special," she shares.
Whisk will also offer whole cakes and fruit tarts to order, as well as by-the-dozen cupcakes. In fact, Botwinick says, she's taking Thanksgiving tart pre-orders now, and come December, she'll offer bûche de Noël — traditional Yule Log cake.
It's a large daily menu for Botwinick, who's enlisted only the help of Earl Vallery, her new assistant pastry chef (formerly of Central Market in Austin, Texas). "We'll do everything from scratch. We're just going to have to do a lot of prep work between the two of us. Hopefully we can make it work," she laughs. And what of her mother, her original kitchen co-captain?
"She works full-time in Virginia Beach but jokes that when she retires, she'll come up to Richmond to be my general manager," Botwinick says. "She has a position waiting for her for whenever she's ready!"
Whisk bakery is located at 2100 E. Main St. and soft-opens on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The grand opening is next Saturday, Oct. 24; its daily hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
