Renee and Elan Hoenig were on the hunt to find the perfect location for their bakeshop. They ended up finding it on Larchmere Boulevard. The pair will open HoneyBirch Bakehouse at 12204 Larchmere Blvd. Neighbors might know the spot as the former home of 3 Aprons Bakery and Grey House Pies.
“When we were looking for a space, we were looking for a neighborhood to be in — that’s just the vibe we enjoy,” says Elan. “We want a small neighborhood where we would get to know our customers and see familiar faces as often as possible.”
Elan, a longtime staffer at the Wine Spot in Cleveland Heights, and his wife have been operating HoneyBirch as a cottage business, hosting the occasional pop-up.
Renee describes the shop as a “European-inspired bakery and sandwich shop.” In the morning, there will be drip coffee, breakfast pastries like cardamom knots, ham, egg and cheese sandwiches and sweet and savory puff pastries. At lunch, the bakery will roll out a menu of creative sandwiches, including a New Orleans-style muffaletta on a house-baked Italian round and tuna with hard-boiled egg, olives, boiled potatoes, tomato and a lemon-harissa mayo.
The bakery will offer a lineup of core breads like French baguettes, Italian, Vienna and, on weekends, challah. Cookies, shortbreads and other sweet treats will round out the menu.
The store will also have a small market section offering items like imported chocolate bars, local eggs and cheese, condiments and tinned fish.
At 900 square feet front and back, the bakery is exclusively carry-out, but there will be some sidewalk seating in the coming weeks.
HoneyBirch will open Friday, May 13.
“We’re trying to stay small at first,” Elan adds. “It’s just me and my wife.”
This article appears in Apr 20 – May 3, 2022.
