The owner of Sift Bake Shop in Mystic broke ground Monday on an expansion project for his Water Street bakery.
Adam Young, the winner of season two of Food Network's “Best Baker in America,” said his business has continued to grow. The project will include a 2,200 square foot state-of-the-art kitchen that will be built in the current parking lot. It will triple the size of the current kitchen.
On top of that, there will be a rooftop deck of the same size that overlooks the water and an expansion of the patio that wraps around the bakery.
“Right now it’s tight space and limited resources for guests and staff alike,” Young said.
The current bakery building can get packed. The space will be converted into seating. According to Young, there will be between 160 to 180 seats both inside and outside. More than the maybe couple dozen there are currently.
“When someone comes in here, I want them to have individual service, focused service, genuine service,” Young said.
He is keeping the same personalized experience and can now keep up with the couple of thousands of sales Sift can see in a summer day.
Local
Plus he’s adding to the savory menu and working to get a liquor license to serve beer and wine.
Going into the summer season, Young plans to hire another 30 people to reach 75 full- and part-time staff at his Mystic location.
Neighboring restaurant, Pizzetta, is excited for the potential of what this means for Water Street.
“We send people over there and they send people over here. We don’t have dessert so we always send them over there,” said floor manager Karlie Rose.
Pizzetta hosted a watch-party for the finale of Young’s “Best Baker in America” competition. About 500 people were in attendance, according to Rose.
General contractor K. Blake and Company is also Mystic-based and hires Mystic-based subcontractors.
“I go three kids in the community and the school. It’s great. And just to be part with Adam and the sift brand and name -- you can’t ask for much more,” Owner Kody Blake said.
While the bakery will remain open through most of the renovation, Sift will have to close for a couple of weeks at the end of April, Young said. uring the closure, crews will renovate the current shop. Young said there is the possibility of a temporary food truck at the store and their Watch Hill, R.I. store will remain open.
He has set May 15 as the target date to complete the expansion.
