Canelé Café

Pastries have taken off more than I was expecting, so I’ve spent a lot more time making pastries than I’d planned. Which is great, I’m enjoying them — so now I offer a variety of pastries.

We’ve sold out. We sell out frequently, and I’ll make more and sell out again. It’s been a tremendous response. It’s been really positive.

It feels like there’s a buzz, and it feels like it’s growing.

Goshen is just a great community for supporting new business ventures, or at least being willing to try someplace and give it a shot one time, even if they don’t come back. I feel that people really throw their full support behind these start-ups. They did for Venturi, and they have for this, as well. I know they did for Anna’s [Bread] and Rachel’s [Bread].

It’s a great incubator, especially for restaurants.

I always wanted to be in the restaurant business. For most of my life, I’ve had some level of passion for food. I didn’t follow my instincts as early as I probably should have. I was in IT for 15 years, but I was constantly cooking, and watching cooking shows, and trying to learn more about it.

I’m from this area, but I moved to Goshen in 2008.

I heard a rumor that Anna [Mast, former owner of Anna’s Bread] was considering getting out of the business and not reopening after COVID. At that point, it was just a rumor. But she lives just down the street from me, and I’d known her for years, so I texted her just to see if she wanted to talk about selling it.

Over a couple of months, we negotiated a deal.

She was doing some stuff on Tuesdays, so I would go into the bakery and observe and help a little bit for a couple of months. I took ownership on September 1 of last year.

The ultimate goal would be to offer a couple of breakfast items in the morning, pastries, maybe some quiches, and then espresso and coffee. I’m really picky, and some of the equipment that I want is pretty expensive, so I’m kind of saving up toward those goals for the ultimate, full opening. But I want to offer high-quality coffee, espressos, and lunches, which would be like soups, salads, that sort of thing, maybe wood-fired flatbreads.

That’s looking into the future.

Troy Pippenger, owner, Canelé Café