More than six months after successfully raising $50,000 via Kickstarter, Fluff Bake Bar owner Rebecca Masson revealed Friday that she's officially signed a lease to make her brick and mortar location a reality. With the bakery bar expected to open in the next three to four months, Masson — a former Top Chef: Just Desserts contestant — posted an amusing reaction to Twitter:
this might be more terrifying than that time I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane...
— rebecca masson (@sugar_fairy) July 11, 2014
Masson is taking over the former Sweet Lola Yogurt Bar space that closed last year at 304 Gray Street in Midtown. When it opens, the pastry shop will be more than just a retail bakery for Masson's signature sweets like Fluffernuts and Veruca Salt Cup|Cakes. The baker dubbed The Sugar Hooker will offer plated desserts and charcuterie plates as well.
Beer and wine pairings will even be available for custom dessert tastings.
Some of the plated options include chocolate stout syllabub (crème fraiche, spiced caramel, Ritz cracker crunch), risotto fritters with gingered blueberries and Texas honey semifreddo, Valrhona Tainori chocolate parfait and Meyer lemon ice box pie.
As for the "bar" component of the name, the location will serve beer and wine from a list Masson is creating with assistance from well-regarded local sommelier Antonio Gianola of Houston Wine Merchant. Beer and wine pairings will even be available for custom dessert tastings.
The full shop will also allow Masson to host fellow pastry chefs for weekend takeovers. Austin’s Philip Speer, Chicago’s Amanda Rockman, and Cincinnati’s Megan Ketover have already signed on.
Masson's move comes as the Midtown restaurant scene is shifting slightly. Yes, the bar scene is still booming, but the restaurants are diversifying.
Cook & Collins offers a more grown-up, casual spot while both Kata Robata and Oporto are currently working to open new locations in the area. Fluff Bake Bar would seem to fit into the trend of better food options for the area and represents one of the more interesting new bakery concepts to emerge in 2014.
Rebecca Masson is making her long-awaited big move to a brick and mortar bakery bar.
