On the Rise Bakery Unveils Expansion That Doubles Footprint

It’s been a little more than a year since we first reported on the expansion project that would double the size of On the Rise bakery in Cleveland Heights. Last spring, Adam Gidlow, owner of the 15-year-old bake shop, took possession of an adjacent space to make room for a full commercial kitchen and a greatly expanded lobby for retail sales and dine-in seating.

This week, the brown craft paper finally came down off the windows and the two spaces were united as one. One final inspection is all that separates chef Brian Evans from his shiny new kitchen equipment.

“We’re inching our way closer day by day,” he says.

The physical changes were inspired by the success of the bakery’s relatively new lunch service, which features nearly a dozen different sandwiches and generates a line out the door. Sandwiches like the banh mi with braised pork, Vietnamese pate and pickled veggies on a crusty baguette, and the ham and gruyere with herbed butter, have fostered the need for more space in which to prepare those sandwiches but also to enjoy them.

Seating has jumped precipitously, going from literally a handful of seats at a lone table to approximately 25 at counter seats, high tops, standing tables and standard tables. Outside, another 25 seats await guests.

Coming on line next month will be a new espresso program thanks to a barista and La Marzocco espresso machine.

The expanded kitchen, visible from the dining room, will allow Evans to step up his game in terms of menu items. Guests will start seeing new items on the lunch time roster. For now, the hours will remain the same, with breakfast and lunch being the raisons d’etre for the shop. But Evans hints at the possibility of evening activities down the road.

“We don’t plan on offering a dinner service out of the gate,” he says.

Check out the dramatic changes.

This article appears in Jul 13-19, 2016.