Liberal Arts Campus’ student-run bakery and bistro finally opened its doors Feb 13, kicking off the spring semester by serving a variety of desserts, drinks and fresh food options.
Located in the V building across from the math student success center, students can find the Bakery open from nine a.m to two p.m.
Opening the week of Valentine’s Day, the bakery held a special in which they sold a chocolate cake with whipped cream, strawberry compote and fresh strawberries, which quickly sold out. This special was only available to students Monday and Tuesday.
The bakery currently employs about five students, giving them hands-on experience working in a culinary setting as production bakers.
Hannah Garcia and Donna Harrejon are in charge of running this semester’s bakery team. They both have been working hard to ensure that opening week runs smoothly by planning and organizing their team efficiently.
Since only five students, including Hannah and Donna, are running the bakery portion, this allows them to have more creative freedom with the menu and explore different cuisines, including empanadas and meat pies.
Items surprisingly sold slowly following their first day, which was not expected in comparison to last semester’s turnout.
Hoping to gain more traction throughout the week, they were still able to sell out a lot of their items, just not as fast as they normally do.
“We were expecting a lot of people to come but it was pretty slow, but we know throughout the week it’ll be progressively more [customers]” said Herrejon.
In preparation for opening day, the team of five prepared 800 chocolate chip cookies and 500 oatmeal cranberry cookies.
This new opening comes at a great time for students considering the continued closure of the school’s cafeteria, the bakery offers options for students who want a fresh, handmade bite to eat in between classes.
The bakery prices come at an affordable rate for students looking to eat on a budget, with items on the menu ranging from $1.50 like cookies and fresh fruit to the most expensive item, the meat hand pie at $3.75.
Items tend to sell out quickly, so those looking to purchase more popular items may have better luck arriving shortly after their nine a.m. opening.