Monday, March 12, 2012

Updates from our Bakery


Our new pastry chef, Eric Wolitzky has been hard at work in the bakery, creating some delicious new desserts, cookies, and pastries. We wanted to share a few of the new additions on the blog!


Clockwise from top center: a new chocolate-peanut butter and banana macaron, a salt and pepper cookie, a linzer cookie, and a new peanut s'mores bar.

Monday, February 27, 2012

A few delicious menu items....

Even though it's still cold outside, we've been getting some great winter produce, and wanted to showcase some of our recent menu items on the blog!





This is a recent entrée from our menu - braised and roasted pork with spinach and sunchoke.




This is the smoked duck "ham" first course served with frisée, white beans, citrus and avocado. Duck "ham" is duck meat, cured and smoked in the same way that you would to make ham out of pork meat. Here, the duck is shaved thinly over a bed of frisée.








A selection of cold water oysters on ice - Shigoku and Kumamoto from Washington State. Shigoku means 'ultimate' in Japanese, and these oysters have a clean, almost sweet finish with a hint of melon and cucumber. In general, Kumamoto oysters are slightly smaller, but also have a fruity flavor.











One of our smaller plates - some beautiful purple cabbage with potato confit, rye croutons, bacon and green onions with a mustard vinaigrette.




Check out our most recent menu online here, and come try some of the dishes in person! We'll be posting more updates with other menu items soon - so keep an eye out for those!





Sunday, February 12, 2012

Cakes Blog is Back!

February 12, 2012


After a brief hiatus from our blog posts, we are back with the final picts from our construction adventure and some recent food shots. We will start posting weekly updates on menu changes and other tidbits so stay tuned!


It took a year of hard work and planning, but we moved into our new location at 151, 153 and 155 Sycamore in August of 2011 and we love our new space. The bakery next door (blue storefront) is open all day and serves delicious Counter Culture Coffee, pastries, desserts and a delicious lunch.


This is our bakery...the stools are from Ebay and the chairs from the Scott Antique Market, and the butcher block tables we purchased from the former Dynamic Dish. Although we loved picking everything out, we're glad it's finished!



Here's the inside of Cakes & Ale. Notice anything from the old space? We moved the farm table, chairs, lights, and bar stools and even the old booths and tables! The bar shelving got a nice new update to showcase our vintage cocktail glass collection. Possibly our favorite part of the new space is the patio. It sits on Church Street and reminds us of sidewalk dining in some of our favorite cities. The patio is open all day and is the perfect place for a cappuccino.
A few food photos:



scallops with cracked wheat


Burratta with eggplant, peppers, beans and pesto



Delicious lunch salad by David Sweeney




Cafe au lait (served in a bowl!) with an almond croissant



If you haven't visited, come check us out!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Construction Update June 20, 2011

Here is a picture of our new bar being built!


Here are some of the crew from "Nicholson General Contracting" working hard on a Friday!


Custom booths in the works





We are getting closer every week. We will post more pictures as we progress!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Construction Update June 1, 2011

Our scheduled opening at our new location is now the middle of July! We will post some new pictures in the next few weeks!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

updated photos March 26

Construction Update March 26, 2011

Two Months To Go!
Here is a view from the patio area. There are four windows and a door on this side of the building, which faces Church Street. Tables for outside seating will be here!
Here is another picture of the historic sign which was uncovered during remodeling. This will be preseved and on the left wall of our new bakery!
This is a view from the upstairs. A second floor was added above the bakery for office space and staff meetings.
This picture was taken inside the bakery space. This side of the building faces the Decatur Marta Station.



We are all very excited about our new space. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates in the next few weeks!


Monday, January 3, 2011

A few New Year construction photos!

Mike, our Project Manager, uncovered a few old chimneys today. There are at least five chimneys in the space that were hooked up to pot bellied stoves in the past to heat the bakery and restaurant.

The floor joists were rotted, so we are bringing in dirt for the flooring fill. Concrete will be poured over the dirt, and we will reuse the old wood over the concrete. Yes, that's a bobcat inside the bakery!






Plumbing going into the dirt. Progress!



The old storefronts are gone (except for the historic one on the corner space) to make way for new storefronts!