WAIPOULI — Let them eat cake. But in a very nice way. And let them have their icing and cookies, too. It’s more than OK with Patrick and Andrea Quinn, owners and operators of Icing on the Cake, a new
WAIPOULI — Let them eat cake.
But in a very nice way.
And let them have their icing and cookies, too.
It’s more than OK with Patrick and Andrea Quinn, owners and operators of Icing on the Cake, a new business which could best be described as a boutique wholesale bakery.
Opened since earlier this year, the Quinns located their current kitchen in the Kaua‘i Village shopping center in Waipouli (the old Dragon Inn kitchen), signed a lease, and completely gutted and refurbished the old kitchen.
“We felt there was a market that was not adequately being served on the island,” said Andrea Quinn. “We offer great-tasting, classical items made with the highest quality ingredients available. We strive to support local farmers when possible.”
The Quinns said their business is an outgrowth of their Kaua‘i experience.
Andrea Quinn was the pastry chef at Roy’s Poipu Bar and Grill for several years when it first opened, and had also been the pastry chef at Moose’s in San Francisco, and at the San Francisco Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
“Kaua‘i has been home for us since the day we first moved here 10 years ago, and while it has been very hard at times to make it here, we wouldn’t live anywhere else,” Patrick Quinn said.
Patrick Quinn said he bakes in a “pinch,” but mostly washes dishes.
He said that, so far, business was good, but could always be better.
Icing on the Cake operates by appointment and wholesale, but they would eventually like to have one or two retail locations on island, probably one on the North Shore and one on the South Shore, supplying them both from the Waipouli kitchen.
“Currently, we do a lot of breakfast pastries, muffins and scones,” Andrea Quinn said.
In addition to catering and private parties, Icing on the Cake is supplying products to the Papaya’s Natural Foods in both the Kaua‘i Village shopping area site, which is just a short walk from the Quinn’s baking facility, as well as the Papaya’s location Hanalei.
“We also have two really-good empanadas. One is made with the grass-fed beef from the Princeville Ranch, (and) the other is a vegetarian chorizo which would have the most ardent carnivore believing it was sausage,” she said.
No beef with that, but Icing on the Cake, obviously, specializes in cakes.
In addition to its signature carrot cake and several chocolate cakes, Andrea Quinn reportedly makes some of the best cheesecakes in creation.
“So far we seem to appeal to both the health-conscious shopper who wants to indulge with an organic, GMO-free pastry, as well as the seasoned gourmand,” she said.
The Quinns are doing what they can to get business name recognition.
They’ve put a lot of effort into their Web site, and are happy with the way it turned out.
They also underwrite the “Sunday Morning Classical” music program on community radio station KKCR.
Patrick Quinn said that, a part from that, the owners have largely depended on word of mouth.
“Interestingly enough, our first big account found us by following her nose. She kept smelling our baking while doing her shopping at nearby Papaya’s,” he said.
They said their biggest challenge was just finding an available kitchen. They were looking for one for months. Then came the task of actually bringing the kitchen back to a usable state (it had been vacant for over six years). Now it is trying to keep up, and get the ordering down, they said.
“We use almost all organic ingredients, most of which are not readily available on island, so it can take two weeks for flour to come in. But if you have twice as many orders as you did two weeks prior, then you are short,” Andrea Quinn said. Andrea Quinn was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the farming community of Brentwood. Her childhood was spent on the family almond orchard, where she cooked with her mother using fresh produce from their garden and neighboring farms.
Their menus were influenced by trips her family took to Europe, Asia and the Americas, as well as her parent’s many years living in Mexico City and New Orleans.
Andrea Quinn met Patrick Quinn during her freshman year in high school at The Athenian School. Together, they explored the culinary wonders of San Francisco, Napa Valley, and the Berkeley “gourmet ghetto,” establishing their love for each other and of the culinary arts.
Andrea Quinn eventually enrolled in the California Culinary Academy, where she graduated in 1994. It was during an internship at Chez Panisse that she decided she would concentrate on the pastry arts.
According to their Web site, Andrea Quinn has striven to work in the highest-quality restaurants and hotels, where she would gain the most experience and knowledge to augment her classical education.
For more information about Icing on the Cake, please contact the Quinns at 823-1210, or visit their Web site, www.icingonthecake.info.
