Former White Lily Diner pastry chef opens a drool-worthy retro-inspired bakery, Canada Reviews

Sweet treat lovers in Toronto’s east end are in luck as a former pastry chef of the Michelin-recognized White Lily Diner has moved into Gerrard Street — and she brought her cakes, tarts, breads, and cookies with her in the form of Alice Marie Bakery & Coffee.

Located at the corner of Logan Avenue, Alice Marie Bakery & Coffee sources local products and ingredients to serve a rotating selection of pastries, coffee, and daily salads and sandwiches.

Alice Marie began as an at-home bakery, with regular pop-ups at the Bib Gourmand-awarded restaurant and Soul Chocolate. Owner Rachelle Cornish named the business after her grandmother who was integral to instilling her pastry passion from a young age.  

“We just did so much baking together,” Cornish says, noting her first bread maker was a gift from her grandmother in high school. “It went down the road from there and I realized, looking back, that my happy place was baking with her.”

Cornish is joined by Aaron Hubley, who brings experience as a savoury chef, restaurant manager and barista. Together, the duo have brought their culinary passions to life in Victoria, British Columbia, and Melbourne, Australia, but knew that when it came time to opening a storefront, they wanted to do it in Ontario where they both grew up.

“It was really important to both of us to stay in the East End because it’s where we live and we really like the community vibe over there,” says Cornish.

“When we opened this shop, we found that there were so many familiar faces coming in and we knew many of the people, so it was really a perfect fit,” adds Hubley.

It wasn’t just any spot in the east end, though, that ended up catching their eye, but rather the “dreamy” corner spot with large windows on both street-facing sides of the building and some seating for sipping those grab ‘n go lattes.

“We fantasized about that corner shop for a long time,” says Hubley.

Now that the bakery and coffee shop is open, Cornish and Hubley serves up rotating seasonal flavours of “approachable” items you’ve grown up on from cookies and scones to pies, donuts, tarts, and other sweet treats. There’s also always a feature cake on the menu for customers to pick up a mouthwatering slice, as well as their well-known Deep ‘N Nostalgic chocolate cake which is always up for grabs.

The shop also has a daily sandwich and salad which changes with the seasons, made using the daily made house bread — similar to a focaccia — topped with fresh produce from White Lily Farms.  

“Their produce is really amazing so we try to use as much of it as we can,” says Hubley.

That’s not where Alice Marie’s focus on the local ends, as the bakery is committed to supporting other suppliers in the community. All of their chocolates come from Soul Chocolate, while they also use Toronto-based The Pippins Tea Company and Subtext Coffee Roasters. Other goods coming from across Canada includes Silk Road Tea, Sheldon Creek Dairy, Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters and Quietly Coffee.

“It’s about supporting other business owners that are in the community but it also lends a hand in the quality of the food that comes out at the end of the day,” says Hubley. “You don’t have to do a whole lot to something when the ingredient itself is already really great.”

Some of the products, including teas, coffee, and Soul Chocolate are available wholesale through Alice Marie Bakery & Coffee. Soon there will also be some ceramics for sale from Chloe Begg, the artist who created some of the mugs and dishes for the bakery, so you can bring a piece of Alice Marie home with you.

In the next few months, Alice Marie Bakery and Coffee will be expanding to offer more than just cake by the slice. Customers will be able to order a whole seasonal cake for special occasions and celebrations. Those eagerly waiting for a full cake can sign up for the cake mailing list at www.alicemarie.ca to be the first to know.