From a Pop-Up Bakery to a Storefront in West End

Hi! I am Naomi Gingerich, and my daughter Natalie and I are the Mother/Daughter team who started Lavender and Honey Kitchen. Three and a half years ago, we were at a point in our lives when we were both burned out with our jobs and we started looking for a business we could do together. We wanted to focus on something that was about food, was lifegiving and would serve our community.

I have always carried a passion for cooking, baking and inviting people into our home. I was raised in a Mennonite family on a 50-acre dairy farm in Ohio’s Amish country and spent my days helping mom in the kitchen as we baked pies, cakes and bread. Of all the things we made, cinnamon rolls quickly became a favorite. Dad and I had a tradition of riding across the fields to a neighbor’s house every Friday where a tiny Amish widow baked cinnamon rolls in her wood-fired oven. Years later, I recreated the recipe for those rolls from the strong nostalgic hold they had on my heart.

When thinking about starting a business together, it made sense to open a bakery, and to bring heritage recipes from our culture, such as the Amish Cinnamon Rolls,  to share with our city. And that’s how Lavender and Honey was born. In June, 2017, we rented a shared kitchen space at Beta Verde and became part of the Cobblestone Farmers Market. For the past three years we have been selling our baked goods there every Saturday. While our cinnamon rolls continue to be our signature product, our specialty cakes and pies have become equally as popular.

After establishing our customer base doing pop-ups and the farmers market, we have now out-grown our shared kitchen space and home baking ovens. Our next big step is moving into a physical location of our own where we can continue to grow our business and where customers can come every day to buy our products. We currently have a beautiful building under construction at 401 West End Boulevard in Winston-Salem, but we need your help in order to finish the space and make the move.

We are raising $50,000 in this fundraiser for some big ticket items we still need, such as commercial baking ovens with a large hood, espresso equipment, tables and chairs, and up-fitting our back porch for outdoor dining. We also have a vision for a green space that is family friendly with picnic tables and space for outdoor dinner parties.

We already feel so supported by our customers and would never have come to this point without the encouragement and support of our community. Thank you so much for supporting us in any way you choose. It’s our honor to serve you.