2 Louisville vegan bakers join forces to open The Flour Shoppe. Where to find the shop

Matthew Glowicki, Louisville Courier Journal
·3 min read
Erin Tachi, left, and Ashley Bender are co-owners of the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.
Erin Tachi, left, and Ashley Bender are co-owners of the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.

Two bakers on Louisville's vegan scene have joined forces to open a fully vegan bakery.

The Flour Shoppe, 619 Baxter Ave., welcomed its first customers in early February with a selection of cupcakes, cookies and other sweet treats.

"One thing we really want to show people is you can have all the decadence, all of the treats, all of the sweet things you grew up loving, and they don’t have to contain animal products," said co-owner Erin Tachi said. "You really don’t have to settle when it comes to desserts like that."

Tachi and co-owner Ashley Bender met while working alongside each other at the Baxter Avenue space, which previously was a commissary kitchen used by multiple food service operators.

Bender ran Sugar High Louisville, a custom vegan cake bakery, and Tachi operated Julian's Kitchen, a small-batch vegan doughnut-focused bakery.

The two became close friends while running their own baking business out of the space and eventually decided on a joint venture to open a public-facing storefront.

(L-R). Aidan Goldberg, Miles Greenblatt and Hannah Devine-Rader selected items at the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.
(L-R). Aidan Goldberg, Miles Greenblatt and Hannah Devine-Rader selected items at the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.

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"We were just like, 'We’re like peanut butter and jelly,'" Bender said.

Bender, an Albuquerque native, had her first job in a bakery at 16 and worked in a Denver bakery before moving to Louisville about a decade ago.

"I just fell in love with it," she said. "The whole time, in the back of my head, absorbing all of the information that I could in hopes that I could have my own one day."

She worked at Morels Cafe, the vegan restaurant that previously held the space now occupied by The Flour Shoppe.

Tachi, originally from Orlando, got her start in Louisville with the vegan restaurant V-Grits.

"They’re kind of our vegan parents," Tachi said.

Cashier Clarissa Baker, right, helped Kris Stewart and Shane Phoenix, left, with an order at the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.
Cashier Clarissa Baker, right, helped Kris Stewart and Shane Phoenix, left, with an order at the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.

The bakery currently offers a rotating all-vegan selection of cookies, cupcakes and brownies. One stable, signature item that’s been an early favorite is the "cowgirl cookie,”$5, packed with chocolate chunks, chocolate ganache, marshmallows, pecans, coconut shreds and graham crackers.

The Flour Shoppe's offerings include Tachi's specialty, doughnuts, on Sundays. Custom cake orders should start around April. The duo expects to be able to offer products for gluten-free and nut-allergy customers this summer.

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"Food is one of those things that brings people together," Tachi said. "If we can help facilitate those celebrations and help make those memories, that means a lot to us."

The shop also sells gifts, wrapping supplies and greeting cards and intends to expand to offer a curated selection of cake supplies.

A 1970s-inspired murals with disco ball and floral imagery cover the walls of the shop, courtesy of Tachi’s sister, a muralist who designed the shop's logo and painted the murals.

"Every step of this process, we've been so blessed to have someone offer us help in some way, and I don't think we would have been able to do this without that help," Tachi said.

(L-R). Aidan Goldberg, Miles Greenblatt and Hannah Devine-Rader enjoyed some bakery goods outside the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.
(L-R). Aidan Goldberg, Miles Greenblatt and Hannah Devine-Rader enjoyed some bakery goods outside the newly opened The Flour Shoppe vegan bakery in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 19, 2023.

Standing in the middle of their shop, bakery case full of goods and customers in line, the pair said the reality of their new business is still sinking in.

"There’s a line behind you and I’m getting goosebumps," Tachi said. "Every single time we hear someone come in the door, it’s surreal."

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Business reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at mglowicki@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4000 or on Twitter @mattglo. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The Flour Shoppe, a vegan bakery, opens in Louisville's Irish Hill