The Carytown bakery Sugar & Twine is planning to expand into a next-door storefront, where it intends to open a sit-down cafe. (Photo courtesy of Sugar & Twine)
Sugar & Twine is planning to invite its patrons back inside after several years of serving them on the sidewalk.
The Carytown bakery at 2928 W. Cary St. is eyeing a takeover of a vacant storefront next door to house a new sit-down cafe.
It’s been more than three years since Sugar & Twine closed its dine-in cafe and introduced a walk-up service window fashioned out its front door as a pandemic-era precaution.
Owner Beth Orcutt said she wanted to bring back the cafe experience, and at first assumed she would have to get rid of the walk-up window to make it work. But she was reluctant to remove the window because customers appreciated the convenience of the arrangement.
“(Customers) want the ability to walk their dog in Carytown and get a coffee, but they also want to come inside to meet a friend for a coffee or a piece of pie,” Orcutt said. “I think that there is something special that happens on our sidewalk, especially in a bustling place like Carytown, that has really blossomed.”
Beth Orcutt
The baker said that once video game store Bits + Pixels exited the adjacent storefront at 2930 W. Cary St. last year, she saw an opportunity to have her cake and eat it too.
“I think we lost some of the hospitality that sets us apart from a drive-thru. There’s a necessity to bring people inside,” she said. “When this space opened up and I stepped inside, I felt it solved a lot of our challenges.”
Orcutt couldn’t yet say when the new cafe will open. She said she has signed a letter of intent on the space, and was still working on a lease agreement this week.
Sugar & Twine sells baked goods, mostly pastries, in addition to coffee and sandwiches. The bakery also wholesales its baked goods, and Orcutt said she will be able to grow that side of the business as part of the expansion.
“It would open up some room for more production area in our current space. We’re maxed out right now,” she said.
Sugar & Twine sells baked goods to Richmond Restaurant Group, which operates eateries like The Daily Kitchen & Bar as well as East Coast Provisions. It also wholesales cookies to local co-working chain Gather. Orcutt said the wholesale business has been a means to spread the word about Sugar & Twine to other parts of town.
“I consider wholesale to be marketing. Someone on the Southside can have a pastry I made and next time they’re in Carytown they can pop in,” she said.
Sugar & Twine gets its coffee from Afterglow Coffee Cooperative, Recluse Roasting and Blanchard’s Coffee.
Customers order at Sugar & Twine’s walk-up window on Tuesday. The bakery plans to expand to also occupy the adjacent storefront formerly occupied by Bits + Pixels, which is in the background of this photo. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Orcutt opened Sugar & Twine in October 2015 after she bought Capital Coffee and Desserts, which operated in the same space previously. The expansion into the next-door space will be a return to the original concept that Orcutt opened nearly a decade ago.
“It’s not as fun to give someone a piece of pie to take away. It’ll be much more rewarding when it’s something people can enjoy in the cafe,” Orcutt said.
Elsewhere in the local coffee scene, Reviresco Coffee Co. has opened a cafe and begun roasting operations in a storefront near the Museum District. Coffee trailer Parousia Coffee is planning to open a coffee shop later this year in Scott’s Addition.
The Carytown bakery Sugar & Twine is planning to expand into a next-door storefront, where it intends to open a sit-down cafe. (Photo courtesy of Sugar & Twine)
Sugar & Twine is planning to invite its patrons back inside after several years of serving them on the sidewalk.
The Carytown bakery at 2928 W. Cary St. is eyeing a takeover of a vacant storefront next door to house a new sit-down cafe.
It’s been more than three years since Sugar & Twine closed its dine-in cafe and introduced a walk-up service window fashioned out its front door as a pandemic-era precaution.
Owner Beth Orcutt said she wanted to bring back the cafe experience, and at first assumed she would have to get rid of the walk-up window to make it work. But she was reluctant to remove the window because customers appreciated the convenience of the arrangement.
“(Customers) want the ability to walk their dog in Carytown and get a coffee, but they also want to come inside to meet a friend for a coffee or a piece of pie,” Orcutt said. “I think that there is something special that happens on our sidewalk, especially in a bustling place like Carytown, that has really blossomed.”
Beth Orcutt
The baker said that once video game store Bits + Pixels exited the adjacent storefront at 2930 W. Cary St. last year, she saw an opportunity to have her cake and eat it too.
“I think we lost some of the hospitality that sets us apart from a drive-thru. There’s a necessity to bring people inside,” she said. “When this space opened up and I stepped inside, I felt it solved a lot of our challenges.”
Orcutt couldn’t yet say when the new cafe will open. She said she has signed a letter of intent on the space, and was still working on a lease agreement this week.
Sugar & Twine sells baked goods, mostly pastries, in addition to coffee and sandwiches. The bakery also wholesales its baked goods, and Orcutt said she will be able to grow that side of the business as part of the expansion.
“It would open up some room for more production area in our current space. We’re maxed out right now,” she said.
Sugar & Twine sells baked goods to Richmond Restaurant Group, which operates eateries like The Daily Kitchen & Bar as well as East Coast Provisions. It also wholesales cookies to local co-working chain Gather. Orcutt said the wholesale business has been a means to spread the word about Sugar & Twine to other parts of town.
“I consider wholesale to be marketing. Someone on the Southside can have a pastry I made and next time they’re in Carytown they can pop in,” she said.
Sugar & Twine gets its coffee from Afterglow Coffee Cooperative, Recluse Roasting and Blanchard’s Coffee.
Customers order at Sugar & Twine’s walk-up window on Tuesday. The bakery plans to expand to also occupy the adjacent storefront formerly occupied by Bits + Pixels, which is in the background of this photo. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Orcutt opened Sugar & Twine in October 2015 after she bought Capital Coffee and Desserts, which operated in the same space previously. The expansion into the next-door space will be a return to the original concept that Orcutt opened nearly a decade ago.
“It’s not as fun to give someone a piece of pie to take away. It’ll be much more rewarding when it’s something people can enjoy in the cafe,” Orcutt said.
Elsewhere in the local coffee scene, Reviresco Coffee Co. has opened a cafe and begun roasting operations in a storefront near the Museum District. Coffee trailer Parousia Coffee is planning to open a coffee shop later this year in Scott’s Addition.
Great to hear! I was a regular pre-COVID, but stopped going there because I had to wait 10 minutes for coffee in the freezing cold last winter. Freezing your butt off or sweating your *you know what* off for a $6 latte isn’t worth it IMO. I like to support small business, but yeah, that crossed the line for me, so I took my business elsewhere. I’ll be happy to return as a customer when the inside re-opens.
Fantastic, congratulations to the S&T team! We love the walk-up window since we usually walk with our dog, but completely understand that some people miss the in-store experience. This should be the best of both worlds.
Now, if only Crossroad Forest Hill would reopen that awesome cafe.
Happy to hear they’re reopening. I used to be a semi-frequent customer but really did not like the new setup post-Covid.