WESTFIELD — A Westfield bakery that is well on its way to becoming a neighborhood institution has recently expanded its operations to bring sweet treats and savory confections to Morristown.
Last week, Jeff and Uyen Kirshenbaum, owners of the Kirshenbaum Baking Company, celebrated their second grand opening in as many years when they cut the ribbon at their new Morristown location.
“We’re still ironing out the kinks, but we definitely have a better idea of what to expect this time around,” said Ms. Kirshenbaum, a classically- trained pastry chef who launched an online cookie-delivery service after being furloughed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Kirshenbaums opened their first brick-and-mortar location — a counter-service bakery that offers freshly-baked cookies, breads, pies, cakes, sandwiches, donuts and desserts — on Elm Street in 2022.
“The best decision that we could have made was to open our first store in Westfield,” said Mr. Kirshenbaum, who now serves as the board chair of the Downtown Westfield Corporation. “We have learned a lot from the community about what works and what doesn’t. We’ve been very busy, and we still have a lot to do, but we’re excited.”
So far, Ms. Kirshenbaum said, things have been going well at the new location.
“We’re finding that our savory items have been doing very well over here,” she said, speaking from the new bakery on Tuesday. “We always get a big breakfast crowd in Westfield, but there seems to be a bigger lunch rush in Morristown.”
The Kirshenbaums now support about 20 full- and part-time employees between their two locations, and have been known to hire high-school and college students to help run their businesses.
“I have such a strong team in Westfield at this point that we were able to bring some of our more experienced people with us to the new store to help things run more smoothly,” Ms. Kirshenbaum said. “My bakers are very talented, passionate people, and they’re all fulltime. That allows us to keep things consistent across both locations.”
The new bakery, located near the county courthouse, is one of the first tenants to open up shop in a new mixed-use housing development at 22 Schuyler Place.
“The residential tenants are scheduled to start moving in this week, so we’re expecting that things are going to get pretty busy,” Mr. Kirshenbaum said.
For the time being, at least, the Kirshenbaums will be splitting their time between the two locations.
“We’re definitely busy at the moment,” Ms. Kirshenbaum said, “but we’re also very grateful that we get to spend our time doing something that we love.”
For more information, or to place an online order, visit: kbcbakery.com.
