An almond croissant from B-Side Bakehouse, a pop-up bakery that’s planning to open a permanent location in the Museum District. (Photo courtesy Gregory Safchuk/B-Side)
An adman-turned-baker will soon be whipping up croissants in a Museum District storefront.
Ben Safchuk’s B-Side Bakehouse is planning to open a brick-and-mortar location at 707 N. Sheppard St. this week after operating as a pop-up for more than a year.
B-Side has taken over a 500-square-foot space that will primarily be used as a bakery but also feature grab-and-go service and limited seating. Safchuk said the small space will allow him to expand into a brick-and-mortar business in what he hopes will be a manageable way.
“It’ll be a kitchen first in my mind. From a conceptual standpoint, I had to think about it that way to wrap my head around how to build it out, because it is a very small space and that’s kind of what I’m up against. But that was part of the whole philosophy going into this, keeping overhead low in order to allow myself the ability to experiment and play and try new things,” he said.
B-Side primarily bakes and sells croissants, and the upcoming Museum District spot’s menu is expected to feature chocolate-almond, ham-and-gruyere and other takes on the French pastry.
Safchuk not only likes to eat croissants but finds them an enjoyable challenge to bake. He said from a business perspective, he likes the idea of B-Side having a specialty in croissants.
Ben Safchuk
“It’s such a versatile dough. You can do so many different things with it,” he said. “I think that most of the bakeries that I’ve seen that have been doing something interesting have a focus.”
B-Side also plans to sell cookies, cakes and coffee.
The baking venture’s name is a nod to Safchuk’s passion for music. In addition to his more recent fascination with croissants, he’s also a guitar player.
“It’s a way for me to combine my love of music and playing music for my whole life with baking, which is something that is a relatively new passion for me,” he said. “The B side of a record is the other songs, they’re not the ones that get the marketing attention. They’re the ones that aren’t singles, and they’re usually fought for to be on the record.”
Safchuk has had a lifelong interest in food, and considered going to culinary school before he embarked on a career in advertising that has featured stops at places like CarLotz and The Martin Agency. B-Side traces its origins to a baking hobby that was born out of time spent in the kitchen during the pandemic. Safchuk said that what started out as a way to pass the time turned into a business when he was asked to participate as a vendor at a June 2023 event put on by then-employer The Martin Agency. He left the downtown ad agency earlier this month to focus on B-Side.
Since B-Side’s launch it has been operating as a pop-up, selling baked goods at local events like RVA Big Market at Bryan Park and Dorey Park Farmer’s Market. Safchuk said he was motivated to grow the business thanks to support from customers and local businesses.
“I have great support from the people that encouraged me in this community, and I guess it had been so encouraging that it gave me the chutzpah I need to look at spaces and see that as a potential path forward,” he said.
B-Side is currently operating out of Hatch Kitchen, a food-and-beverage business incubator space in South Richmond. Once the bakery moves into its new location, the plan is to focus on sales from its Museum District storefront alongside a more limited presence at local vendor markets.
B-Side is planning to open in the new space on Thursday, and anticipates holding a grand opening in early November. The bakery has three employees.
B-Side is joining a commercial strip in the museum District between Patterson and Monument avenues. Other businesses there include Truckle Cheesemongers, Boho Studios and Sheppard Street Tavern.
The bakery is opening in the storefront formerly occupied by jewelry store Atelier Owens and before that barbershop RJ’s.
An almond croissant from B-Side Bakehouse, a pop-up bakery that’s planning to open a permanent location in the Museum District. (Photo courtesy Gregory Safchuk/B-Side)
An adman-turned-baker will soon be whipping up croissants in a Museum District storefront.
Ben Safchuk’s B-Side Bakehouse is planning to open a brick-and-mortar location at 707 N. Sheppard St. this week after operating as a pop-up for more than a year.
B-Side has taken over a 500-square-foot space that will primarily be used as a bakery but also feature grab-and-go service and limited seating. Safchuk said the small space will allow him to expand into a brick-and-mortar business in what he hopes will be a manageable way.
“It’ll be a kitchen first in my mind. From a conceptual standpoint, I had to think about it that way to wrap my head around how to build it out, because it is a very small space and that’s kind of what I’m up against. But that was part of the whole philosophy going into this, keeping overhead low in order to allow myself the ability to experiment and play and try new things,” he said.
B-Side primarily bakes and sells croissants, and the upcoming Museum District spot’s menu is expected to feature chocolate-almond, ham-and-gruyere and other takes on the French pastry.
Safchuk not only likes to eat croissants but finds them an enjoyable challenge to bake. He said from a business perspective, he likes the idea of B-Side having a specialty in croissants.
Ben Safchuk
“It’s such a versatile dough. You can do so many different things with it,” he said. “I think that most of the bakeries that I’ve seen that have been doing something interesting have a focus.”
B-Side also plans to sell cookies, cakes and coffee.
The baking venture’s name is a nod to Safchuk’s passion for music. In addition to his more recent fascination with croissants, he’s also a guitar player.
“It’s a way for me to combine my love of music and playing music for my whole life with baking, which is something that is a relatively new passion for me,” he said. “The B side of a record is the other songs, they’re not the ones that get the marketing attention. They’re the ones that aren’t singles, and they’re usually fought for to be on the record.”
Safchuk has had a lifelong interest in food, and considered going to culinary school before he embarked on a career in advertising that has featured stops at places like CarLotz and The Martin Agency. B-Side traces its origins to a baking hobby that was born out of time spent in the kitchen during the pandemic. Safchuk said that what started out as a way to pass the time turned into a business when he was asked to participate as a vendor at a June 2023 event put on by then-employer The Martin Agency. He left the downtown ad agency earlier this month to focus on B-Side.
Since B-Side’s launch it has been operating as a pop-up, selling baked goods at local events like RVA Big Market at Bryan Park and Dorey Park Farmer’s Market. Safchuk said he was motivated to grow the business thanks to support from customers and local businesses.
“I have great support from the people that encouraged me in this community, and I guess it had been so encouraging that it gave me the chutzpah I need to look at spaces and see that as a potential path forward,” he said.
B-Side is currently operating out of Hatch Kitchen, a food-and-beverage business incubator space in South Richmond. Once the bakery moves into its new location, the plan is to focus on sales from its Museum District storefront alongside a more limited presence at local vendor markets.
B-Side is planning to open in the new space on Thursday, and anticipates holding a grand opening in early November. The bakery has three employees.
B-Side is joining a commercial strip in the museum District between Patterson and Monument avenues. Other businesses there include Truckle Cheesemongers, Boho Studios and Sheppard Street Tavern.
The bakery is opening in the storefront formerly occupied by jewelry store Atelier Owens and before that barbershop RJ’s.
Looking forward to trying this new place on my Thursday walk around the district!
Ben! This is exciting, and I can’t wait to see this take off. Great location too.
Your croissants are so good and I was honored to have a sample box of them at your home two years ago.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
We’d be happy to assist you.
Looking forward to the opening.
This sounds great, I haven’t tried them yet but would love to have good croissants in the neighborhood
Definitely a block that has been in need of a good bakery. And decent coffee.
There used to be a Dot’s Pastry Shop there on the corner of Patterson and Sheppard St. many years ago. After the Pizza Oven moved there it’s been mostly a beer joint ever since.
Yes! I am having a devil of a time finding any specific deeds on that address, but city records and the Sanborn maps confirm that 600 N Sheppard was originally built as a ‘portable oven’ bakery in 1925.
I knew a kid whose grandmother worked at Dot’s Bakery, and she also worked at the Byrd Theatre.
best croissants and baked goods around!
If they are as good you say, then they should be able to draw in some Scotts Addition customers as well. It’s just a short walk for many residents from blocks all around.
a short walk from the Fan as well of course. I usually walk over to Idle Hands for a croissant currently, it’s a nice walk
I was walking those streets 50 years ago! Not now though.