The numbers of the bakery never made sense - we literally never made enough money lol. It would have closed in 9 months but north was supporting it. One of the reasons we never made any money was because we opened it what, ten years ago? Ten years ago that block was completely different - no restaurants, no gym (though planet fitness opened soon after), no breweries, no bars. Just garages and car repair places, and a private ambulance company. It was certainly residential, but the neighborhood has gotten way wealthier the last decade, and can now support higher prices. At the time I was obsessed with a $5 breakfast sandwich with a coffee. We eventually moved away from that ourselves, but not to the prices point you’d find that for now. Ditto for most of the other stuff.

Part of the issue is the inefficiencies of the space - I leased the space because the rent was dirt cheap (obscenely cheap actually), BUT I had to white box and build the space out myself. Floors, ceilings, walls, plumbing, electrical. This was the first space we built ourselves, and while we used contractors, we made a bunch of design errors - especially with HVAC - that really hurt the space both from a comfort perspective but also a functionality perspective.

I think the biggest lesson though was that for me, I learned that having a space that was open all day seven days and then another open all night seven days was just really difficult for me on all accounts. Other people are better about delegating and training people on the management level - frankly I can teach you to cook, but teaching people to manage, especially back then, is definitely a weakness of mine. I still think that place was special but I needed to spend more time there and just couldn’t.

wafflesandgin t1_je9azad wrote on March 30, 2023 at 10:51 AM

#2,479,286

Replying to nl2012 (#2,478,949)

I appreciate this response. You've been one of the more genuine restaurant owners in PVD regarding the work and closing of North's various iterations.

That being said, I really really miss the stuffed bagels from the bakery. They were life.

wafflesandgin t1_je9b0ys wrote on March 30, 2023 at 10:52 AM

#2,479,296

Replying to Less_Tackle7203 (#2,468,046)

Same.

solidgoldnoodle t1_je9d6gb wrote on March 30, 2023 at 11:16 AM

#2,479,791

Replying to nl2012 (#2,478,689)

🥹

xenolingual t1_je9mihc wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:46 PM

#2,481,932

Replying to rebeccanau (#2,463,516)

The recipe's available online, along with vegan chocolate cookies recipe. (From: Putting Miso in Your Cookies Might Be the Best Idea Ever)

You should be able to get the ingredients at Good Fortune and/or Chinese American Mini Mart.

pvdjay OP t1_je9syco wrote on March 30, 2023 at 1:37 PM

#2,483,679

Replying to rarabk (#2,476,205)

Best croissants I’ve ever had. I love their almond ones.

Sorry seven stars, but you’ve got to hire that guy to help you fix your almond croissants.

pvdjay OP t1_je9ukue wrote on March 30, 2023 at 1:49 PM

#2,484,135

Replying to nl2012 (#2,478,949)

Good point on the HVAC, it definitely was always smoky in there. To the point that the baked goods tended to take on the smoke flavor.

Still tasted good though

Also, when you guys opened Planet Fitness was there already. But nothing else though… except for Fountain Spa 😂

Source: I live around the corner (sorry I didn’t buy more 😳)

nl2012 t1_jeafuea wrote on March 30, 2023 at 4:19 PM

#2,489,834

Replying to pvdjay (#2,484,135)

Yea we were going to have a full size hvac unit and the hvac guy convinced me that a minisplit would be sufficient and would match the space better. Probably the biggest mistake.