Bakery forced to shed its location

Recent visit by social media influencer was great for home-based business but city found operation contravened bylaw

Biscuits to Baskets is still feeling the Keith Lee effect.

The Ajax bakery that Suzanne Smith and her family operate out of a shed behind their home is busier than ever, since the immensely popular TikTok food influencer stopped by last month and gave a rave review to such baked goods as their banana cake.

Lee, an American TikTokker who has 16.2 million followers, is known for driving traffic to the small businesses he reviews. Biscuits to Baskets owner Smith told the Star his decision to visit and promote her business was “shocking and overwhelming,” but she was grateful.

But with great sweets — and lineups out the door — comes greater scrutiny.

This week, Biscuits to Baskets put up an Instagram post saying they had received a visit from authorities in Ajax informing them the large shed behind the house that they moved the business into five years ago contravenes a clause in the town’s bylaws that says a homebased business must be contained under one roof, so they will have to move the business back into the main house.

While there’s already been some people expressing outrage at the idea of the town quashing a viral small-business success story, the people behind the bakery are taking it in stride.

“I can tell you that the Keith Lee effect/visit was and is a positive thing that happened to us. No regrets whatsoever on his visit with us. Keith Lee is an amazing person,” Smith said in an email exchange with the Star.

“(We are) faced with a bit of a challenge, but we are working closely with the town to come up with a solution for our small business. These things happen and we are doing our best to stay very positive.”

Located in the backyard, customers walk down to the side of the house to what looks like a small cottage, with a white door and grey side-panelling. There are a few tables and chairs set up outside. Inside there are shelves with homemade baked goods and other products lining the walls. There’s a counter where people pay and the espresso machine where Andrew Fliegel, Smith’s son and the resident barista at Biscuits to Baskets, slings his drinks.

“Don’t believe everything you read on social media,” he cautioned. “There are people online saying like, ‘They’re being shut down.’ That’s not entirely true. The city didn’t come here maliciously to shut us down. They came here to do their job. They found something. We’re going to comply with what they found and that is pretty much end of story.”

Fliegel said everything is amicable and they have time to sort out what happens next.

Kassandra Cruciano is the manager of strategic operations for Ajax and she said the town government was excited and happy to see Biscuits to Baskets’ success. They shared it on social media, and she’s visited a few times to grab coffee — long before Lee stopped by.

She said the town supports homebased businesses, but there was a complaint that they had to check out.

“Our current zoning bylaw does restrict that use of the business to the primary dwelling, so a homebased business cannot operate in an accessory building,” said Cruciano. “In this case, the garage or shed they’re operating out of is detached from the home, so it technically does not comply with our current zoning bylaw.”

She said they are discussing options with the Smith family and want to help them find a commercial space.

Biscuits to Basket has generally opened on weekends, and now is only open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays. It’s a family business, with Smith and her husband, Coulter Smith, baking and running the show, while Fliegel, who works in education, handles coffee and social media duties. His sister, Victoria, has a vegan bakery business called Sweet Jargon Cakes that sells goods there, and his grandmother also helps with the baking.

For now, Biscuits to Baskets will operate out of the shed until June 1. After that, the bakery will operate out of the front of the main house, which is how the family operated for the first 15 years of their business.

Fliegel said they were happy to move into the shed five years ago, but this will work as a temporary solution, as they work toward finding a commercial space.

That said, Fliegel said it has to be the right space. They are determined to try to keep the same cosy, homey vibe that impressed Lee, and it’s got to be something that makes sense financially for the family. They are adamant they want to stay in Ajax.

To that end, the family is going to be fundraising, and in answer to a lot of new fans’ requests, they are creating their first batch of T-shirts, which features lines from and the likeness of Lee — all created with his permission.

“We just blew up. We don’t have that kind of money saved up to open a commercial space. We’re just not there yet,” said Fliegel. “So I reached out to (Lee), with this idea for T-shirts and he loved it. …‘You have my blessing’ is pretty much what he said.”

As for controversial moves, on some of the shirt designs, Scarborough is crossed out, with a red Ajax scrawled above it.

“That was a joke because when Keith was here, Scarborough is where he visited a lot of restaurants, and he said Biscuits to Baskets was also there,” explained Fliegel. “A lot of people on social media were saying, ‘It’s Ajax, not Scarborough,’ so that was our fun way of sort of correcting him.”

‘‘ There are people online saying like, ‘They’re being shut down.’ That’s not entirely true. The city didn’t come here maliciously to shut us down. They came here to do their job.

ANDREW FLIEGEL RESIDENT BARISTA AT BISCUITS TO BASKETS