Sweet treat: Bakery opening first brick-and-mortar location in Springfield
Golden Hour Bake House is getting its first permanent home.
Owner Alli Donaldson confirmed she has signed a lease for 11 W. Old State Capitol Plaza after three years of selling her scratch-made baked goods from farmers market booths, online sales and as a wholesale vendor.
Donaldson said the brick-and-mortar location will offer the scratch-made traditional treats and allergy-free sweets she is known for, as well as adding a grab-and-go breakfast and lunch menu and espresso bar.
A fall opening is anticipated.
In the meantime, Springfield fans can find Golden Hour Bake House selections at the Old Capitol Farmers Market every Saturday and at The Wakery, both in downtown Springfield. Donaldson also takes online pre-orders at goldenhourbakehouse.com.
Golden Hour Bake House’s new home at the corner of Fifth and Adams streets was previously occupied by Great House BBQ.
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Piece of Big Apple in the Capital City
Prepare to take a bite out of the Big Apple, even if your summer plans don’t include a trip to New York City.
Broadway Bagels begins its multi-phase opening at 1500 Wabash Ave. Tuesday with limited hours the first week, featuring its breakfast sandwiches.
The specialty a.m. lineup – all sandwiched between a fresh bagel – roam from Time Square (two eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and sausage gravy) to Central Park (choice of a cream cheese schmear, cheese and assorted veggies), Rockefeller (pastrami, eggs, hashbrowns and Swiss) to the Empire State Building (chicken fried steak, fried egg, American cheese and cream gravy).
The new business will be open from 6 to 11 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, May 31, and 7 a.m. to noon the weekend of June 1 and 2.
In addition to the breakfast sandwiches, the limited menu also will include pastries and selections from the drink menu.
More: Popular BBQ returning to Springfield at new location after closing last year
Regular operating hours begin June 3, along with Broadway Bagels’ lunch selections, which add new flavor stops on the tour.
Lunch sandwiches include Carnegie Hall (pastrami or corned beef, Swiss and pickle on pumpernickel), Lady Liberty (turkey and bacon on a cranberry bagel) and The Yankee (choice of tuna, chicken or egg salad with Provolone).
Regular operating hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.
The sale date for loose bagels has yet to be set.
Dough for all bagels in the business’s offering are made in New York City and shipped daily to Springfield where it is seeded and baked in-house each morning. Daily offerings include 18 varieties, ranging from plain to poppy seed, asiago to jalapeno, marble rye to rainbow. Bagels cost $2.75 each, $16 for a half dozen, $30 for a dozen. A single bagel with butter and jam is $4 or with a flavored cream cheese schmear $4.50.
Schmears also come in a wide variety: everything from bacon-scallion to birthday cake, mixed berry to maple-bacon-pecan, jalapeno popper to fig jam and honey. Cost is $5.99 for an 8-ounce container.
The pastry selections include cheesecake danishes, stuffed cinnamon rolls, croissants, crumb cake, muffins, savory pastries, New York cheesecake and black-and-white cookies.
The full menu also includes a variety of deli salads and side dishes. The beverage menu includes coffees, espressos, fruit teas and lemonades.
Orders are placed in store at a kiosk that only accepts electronic payment. The drive-through window is not yet operational. Take out only.
There are two gluten-free bagels on the menu (plain and everything), but neither are made in a gluten-free environment.
Red Lobster remains open in Springfield
Red Lobster’s Springfield location slipped through the net that led to several dozen of the seafood brand’s locations being shuttered prior to the company filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday (May 19).
Two Illinois locations are among the 87 stores listed by the company website as “temporarily closed” across 27 states. Those locations include Danville and the Chicago suburb of Bloomingdale.
Despite the “temporary” status, some kitchen equipment from these locations already have been posted for auction by an online restaurant liquidator.
The Springfield restaurant at 2696 S. Dirksen Parkway remains open.
More: Red Lobster restaurants closing locations permanently nationwide? Auction suggests yes
Red Lobster officials said the brand is not going away, according to a post on social media Tuesday.
“Bankruptcy is a word often misunderstood,” the post read. “Filing for bankruptcy does not mean we are going out of business. In fact, it means just the opposite. It is a legal process that allows us to make changes to our business and our cost structure so that Red Lobster can continue as a strong company going forward.”
The Orlando-based company indicated in its bankruptcy filing that it is in the process of selling the brand and that operations will continue throughout the Chapter 11 process.
The A La Carte column highlights restaurant openings, closings, renovations and relocations, as well as personnel changes and business news. Natalie Morris can be reached at 217/=-737-7254 or by email at natalie.sjr@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Golden Hour Bake House and Broadway Bagels opening new Springfield locations
