After a decade of business across the street from the Main Campus of the Cleveland Clinic, Fluffy Duck Café has temporarily closed its doors on Chester Ave. in anticipation of a move out east.
“We’re in the process of moving right now,” says owner and pastry chef Ben Woods. “We’re going out to Highland Heights.”
Woods, who studied baking at the Culinary Institute of America, opened the shimmering bakery and café in 2016, hoping to capitalize on both Clinic traffic and the rise of residential capacity in and around University Circle. His business has been pretty evenly split, he says, between retail and wholesale orders. Fluffy Duck baked goods can be found around town at places like Ohio City Provisions, Landmark, Noble Beast, Terrestrial and Literary Tavern.
Over the past few years, however, Woods has witnessed a drop in retail business. That combined with steep rent payments motivated him to move on.
The new bakery and café will be located at 787 Bishop Road in Highland Heights. When it opens in late fall, the shop will offer a similar mix of breads, pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and salads. Woods says that he plans to offer three to five fresh breads a day, a mix of sourdoughs, ryes, baguettes and other loaves.
His sandwiches, served on house-baked croissants, are exceptional.
Subscribe to CLE Bites, Doug Trattner’s weekly food newsletter.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
