BUCKHANNON – Buckhannon’s newest sweet spot will open its doors Friday to offer residents and visitors delectable homemade baked goods.
Taste and See is a new bakery that has found its home at 21 Madison Street, near Don Paco’s Mexican Restaurant, and will open for this first time this Friday, Oct. 9 at noon.
A grand opening is slated for noon the following day, on Saturday, Oct. 10. The shop, which will additionally offer catering services, specialty baking for weddings and other events, gift baskets and grab-and-go items, is operated by co-owners and mother-and-daughter duo, Michelle and Hanna Taylor.
Hanna Taylor said to start out, the two plan to offer some sweet staples as well as seasonal items, so there will be no shortage of pumpkin spice, cream cheese icing or chocolate.
“We’re going to focus primarily on cupcakes and cakes, and then we’re also going to have cookies, cheesecake, cheesecake bars and different types like the pecan bar,” Hanna Taylor said. “We will have seasonal items such as pumpkin rolls and pumpkin cheesecake.”
“We’re going to have a few staples – we’ll keep chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, but mostly we will change them every other day or so, and then we’ll post what we’re going to have on our Facebook page every day,” she added. “We’re also going to have grab-and-go items like pulled pork dinners.”
Taylor said her mother, Michelle, has been cooking and baking all her life.
“I don’t mean to be biased, but she’s an amazing cook, and I honestly think very few compare to her,” Hanna Taylor said. “I’m not saying that just because she’s my mother. I’m harder on her than anyone else, but nevertheless, she’s always loved to bring a taste of home to people, and she’s really good at making people feel special.”
She said her mother has run the business for about five years, but on a smaller scale.
“She’s done family-and-friend events, a few weddings, some baby showers for friends and family, and then she and my dad separated a couple years ago, and they’re finalizing a divorce,” Taylor said. “After that, she wanted to turn it into a more full-time business.”
She said the two considered several locations for the shop, but the look of the building and its accessibility was perfect for them.
“We’ve lived in Buckhannon for about 20 years, and we’ve looked at different places here and there,” Hanna Taylor said. “We looked at a few places on Main Street, but the main thing was to find some parking, and it was just such a pretty building. Accessibility was very convenient, it had the coolers, and it just kind of worked out to be a perfect location.”
They plan to offer catering for events such as weddings, baby showers, graduation parties and retirement events once they build up their staff and spring starts.
“The carrot cake is amazing; we will have that on opening day, and seasonal-wise, we’ll have the pumpkin rolls and they’re awesome,” Taylor said. “My favorite baked goods are pretty much anything with Oreos.”
Taste and See will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The bakery will be closed Sunday and Monday.
The Taylors say they are looking forward to getting to know residents.
“We have always enjoyed cooking, baking, and creating events for our friends and family, so we decided to take some of our greatest passions and share them with our hometown that we have come to love and appreciate so much! We are looking forward to meeting you all soon!” the two wrote in a recent Facebook post.
Check out their Facebook page by clicking here.
