New bakery, new ideas
Phyllis Booth Reporter
A new bakery, Open Mic sessions, poetry readings, ice cream and instructional classes are all part of the new Mountainside Market under the ownership of Princeton resident Katherine Huck and partner Shaun Ennis.
Honey Bee Baking Company, owned by Robin Springfield, will be running her business full-time out of Mountainside Market.
"She will be baking here in the kitchen and taking special orders," said Huck. "She will have custom cakes, cheese cakes, pies, cookies, brownies and can do corporate and special event orders. We have a lot of oven space and a convection oven and we're expanding our prep space."
Several years ago, Huck created the Fortamajig, an all-in-one play space, and has since added to the product line and established the Happy Kid Company. The line of products can be used to create a four-walled fort, teepee, tunnel, canopy, maze, tent or room divider, used inside or out and is washable. Since then, Huck had been working for a non-profit in Boston, bought the Mountainside Market business in January, and has been in the store since mid-March.
"I wanted to get back to being in town and be closer to the kids, and do something I love," said Huck. "I've managed a couple of retail businesses, been running Happy Kids for 10 years and I've been in sales for 20-25 years and I love to cook. Food is a passion of mine.
"All the staff has stayed and Heather Santry is a core component of what makes Mountainside market work so well," Huck continued. "She and Heather Golding are great cooks and all the staff prepares food. We're sticking with the tried and true menu, adding the bakery products and in the future will be offering take home meals."
For the ice cream window, Huck has chosen Gifford's Ice Cream out of Maine.
"They have tons of flavors and right now we're offering 12, a frozen sorbet and one frozen yogurt," she said. "We'll rotate flavors and start with simple cones and cups, and hot fudge sundaes. We'll also incorporate Robin's baked goods into the ice cream window...ice cream brownies for example. She'll have cakes for birthdays and weddings. She's been running her own company for a long time. I love her cheese cake and that will be easier for her to do here because of the refrigeration."
Huck plans to host more community events, offering a place where the community can come together and enjoy music.
"I was blown away by Open Mic night," she said. "There is a lot of great local talent. Half came to listen, the other half to play. I'd like to do this as a coffee house type of event and have local singers come on a regular basis."
Huck said she's planning to continue the poetry readings and offer classes such as the wine tasting, jewelry design and cake decorating.
Mountainside Market is open seven days a week, Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
"We've added more seating outside for our ice cream guests," Huck said. "We want to work with local chefs and offer their creations for take home meals that they cook in their commercial kitchens. We're working with local farmers to buy fresh produce that we can offer here as well as use in our food preparation.
"We want this to be a family place that people can walk to from the town common," she continued. "Princeton has that wonderful feeling of community. People can come in for breakfast, as we open early, with pastries, eggs, scones and great coffee. Lunch can be soup, sandwiches, salads. We have a full offering of Boar's Head Deli products, and salads such as potato, and tuna salad by the pound. We are open with hot food until closing every night."