A brand new bakery called Sweet Rabbit Bakery is getting ready to open its first brick-and-mortar in Bricktown, located at 2159 West Belmont Ave.
The new bakery will move into the former Schlitz Tied house, which was built in 1903 by the Milwaukee-based Schlitz Brewery. Owner Andrew Cheng tells What Now Chicago he hopes to open the new bakery in a month or so, as his opening team is slowly taking shape. He describes this upcoming bakery as French in craft, American in style, and eclectic in inspiration, with the goal of staying as local as possible. One way of doing this is using locally grown, stone-ground flours from Janie’s Mill, located just 2 hours south of Chicago.
Examples of the kind of food to expect at Sweet Rabbit Bakery include a Turkey Red wheat croissant and buckwheat Kouign Aman with black sesame and more border-defying sweets like matcha twinkies and ube conchas. For coffee, the bakery has partnered with Metropolis and hopes to deliver the same thought and care they put in their pastries into their beverage program. This is an incredible opportunity for Cheng, as he has been working in the baking industry for about ten years and was a part of the opening kitchen team for the 4-story Starbucks Roastery on Michigan Avenue.
“Opening a brick-and-mortar means several things: First, it means community,” Cheng tells What Now Chicago. “I am a part of a neighborhood and feel a responsibility to it. Roscoe Village and Bricktown have been overwhelmingly supportive so far, and I want to return as much of that love as possible. But it also feels exposed. All my hopes and dreams, and ideas will be out there, in pastry form, for everyone to see. My humble goal is that it brings whimsy and joy to people’s lives.”
