New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
All you need is love for cupcakes this good
Couple starts Love Bakery & Cafe in Branford
BRANFORD — The secret recipe to a happy relationship and a successful business is love — just ask Jamie Lovejoy and Ramon Rios, who are engaged.
“We do what we love, we call each other ‘love,’ so that’s how we got Love Bakery,” says Lovejoy.
Love Bakery & Café opened earlier this month and has become so popular that Lovejoy has had to increase her daily cupcake offering. On a recent Friday, at 1 p.m., the case was empty and the only cupcakes left were special orders, packed up and ready for pickup.
Every single day there are fresh cupcakes. At the end of the day, leftovers are distributed to local fire departments, police departments or farms that the couple stops at on their way home.
“I made a little over 200 for the store and that’s not including all the orders that we placed,” says Lovejoy, standing behind an empty display case. “We had four orders today. We had two cakes to do and this order still has to be picked up, with four dozen.”
Each order of cupcakes comes with special instructions.
“Travel with care,” Lovejoy said to Kevin Moran as she handed him an assortment of cupcakes, “They taste better when they’re pretty.”
This particular order included: S’mores, a honey graham cracker cupcake filled with marshmallows and vanilla buttercream, topped with buttercream, more marshmallows, two Hershey pips and graham crackers; Brownie Bottoms, a brownie baked under a chocolate cupcake topped with vanilla buttercream and a mini brownie; Cookies & Crème, a vanilla cupcake with Oreo pieces inside, topped with buttercream
and Oreo cookie crumbles; and Funfetti, a vanilla cupcake with sprinkles, topped with vanilla buttercream.
“I always say, about the cupcakes, they’re not that sweet, probably about as sweet as ice cream and as soft as whipped cream,” Lovejoy said.
While Moran was a regular at the couple’s previous establishment, Berlin Lunchbox, these were new flavors for him that he was looking forward to sharing with his wife and two children at home in Orange.
“There’s certain kinds I’ve tried, I haven’t tried these before,” he said, clutching his precious cargo. “I’ve got to share them,” he said. “We’re going to cut them up a little bit.”
Lovejoy and Rios met while at Johnson & Wales University. They started dating after graduating in 2009, Lovejoy with a degree in baking and pastry and Rios with a degree in culinary arts and business management.
Lovejoy says it was Rios’ grilled cheese sandwich that made her fall in love with him. She would end her day savoring his creation, after her shift in a bakery near the restaurant where Rios worked as a chef.
Considered a “fancy grilled cheese,” the sandwich that won over Lovejoy was melted American cheese with tomato, bacon, avocado and Dijonnaise.
“I would just have that grilled cheese literally every single day,” she said as she recounts their courtship.
The couple built up their culinary skills, as well as their relationship while working in various restaurants and catering gigs in and around Providence, R.I., prior to opening their first venture, the Berlin Lunchbox in 2013.
Opening in Branford came on the heels of losing their lease in Berlin two years ago and searching for the perfect spot. In between, they catered weddings and assisted friends along the way. They are thrilled to finally have a new spot to share their culinary creations.
“It needed some serious love in here because it was vacant for two months,” said Lovejoy.
After signing the lease in October 2017, the couple did all the interior work on the roughly 2,000 square feet space on their own — designing a kitchen, an entrance way that highlights the varied cupcakes choices and a seating area for about 50 people.
Rios, 31, grew up in New Haven and Lovejoy, 29, in Wolcott. The couple, who will marry in 2019, live in New Haven, an eight-minute drive to the new business.
They are in the kitchen at about 6 a.m. and stay on site until about 11 p.m.
“It takes a lot of time to clean, to prep food, to get ready for the next day,” Rios said.
Items on the cafe menu are created fresh daily with much of the ingredients sourced from local farms including Branford’s Medlyn Farms.
“I make him take me on a date on Mondays,” said Lovejoy. “We go around to all the local farms.
“We love stopping at just random farms and just picking up produce. We just make a date of it.”
Zucchini, squash, tomatoes and jalapeno pepper have all be incorporated into zucchini bread, fresh tomato vegetable soup and guacamole.
“I think it’s awesome, especially when you start asking them questions,” said Rios. “You actually know where your food’s coming from, how it was produced and who’s handling it.
“You get to meet a lot of the farmers, as well as their employees,” he said. “It’s such a personable experience that brings a love to the food.”
Lovejoy chimes in, “the food tastes so much better.”
Cafe items include Caprese Salad, fresh mozzarella, basil and sliced tomato over a bed of mixed greens a balsamic reduction drizzle; Margarita flatbread, fresh garlic topped with tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese and portabella panini, marinated and roasted portabella caps topped with fresh basil, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and tomatoes.
There is a tie for most popular item between the Cuban panini, Spanish-style slow roast pulled pork, roasted red peppers, sliced turkey, pickles and a Dijonnaise spread with jack cheese and the Chicken Caprese Panini, oven roast chicken, bacon, fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil pesto.
Rios incorporates much of his Puerto Rican heritage into his cooking. One of his famous dishes, Pernil y Arroz, is made with pulled pork, Spanish rice, plantain chips, avocado slices, garnished with scallions. While not on the permanent menu, it will be a special in Branford from time to time.
While the couple boasts of all homemade, fresh items on their menu, they do outsource their artisan breads from Wave Hill Breads in Norwalk and New Haven’s Apicella Bakery Inc. Many of their Berlin customers have followed them to the new location, as they continue to garner new customers daily.
“We’ve had people come down from Berlin every day,” said Lovejoy, smiling. “We used to have a lot of kids that would come in because they (customers) would come in pregnant, I would feed them cupcakes and whatever they wanted Ray would make them.
“Then all of a sudden the baby’s born and then they order platters of food for their parties,” she said.
“Then they would have their first cupcake,” said Rios.
“I love making sure their first cupcakes are from me,” Lovejoy adds. “So, I tell people as soon as they have a baby, don’t cheat on me. I call the first cupcake.”
Lovejoy and Rios are excited about the popularity of their Love Bakery & Cafe since opening it less than a month ago.
“The word is spreading,” said Lovejoy. “I am on the road to a million cupcakes, so we’re going to see how fast it’ll take to hit the milestone numbers. I’m so excited.”
Love Bakery & Cafe, 4 Brushy ▶ Plain Road, Suite 514, Branford; 203-208-2353; Facebook Love Bakery & Café; Instagram lovebakery.cafe; LoveBakeryandCafe@yahoo.com