Rickard's Bakery Opens in Edgartown

Five years ago, Gates Rickard was working as a pastry chef at the. He spent his days baking desserts for the popular restaurant. At night, after the diners had cleared out and the other workers had gone home, he would set to work anew. The restaurant had graciously allowed Gates to use the kitchen after-hours rent-free, so he could toil through the night for his side endeavor: making bread.

Gate's wife, Kate, and their young children would package that bread in sleeves and tie the strings by hand. They sold the loaves to local grocery stores: first , then Tisbury Farm Market and .

"It probably sounds more romantic than it was," said Kate. With Gates working through the night, the couple was rarely together.

Last week the Rickards opened a second retail store in downtown Edgartown at 27 North Summer St. Kate called the space "a dream come true."

But let's back up a moment.

The Rickards' journey to this point—from side business to thriving, multi-location bakery—has been incremental.

In 2007, they moved their operation from the Slice of Life kitchen to a 4,000-square-foot commercial on Cook Road in Vineyard Haven. The husband and wife team baked round-the clock for a year, until they were able to hire staff. In 2009, the Rickards opened that space for retail. Though liked by many, the building bears the imprint of its former life as warehouse, and is not visible from the road.

The Edgartown location is the Rickard's first proper storefront: All bright whites and yellows, it's tastefully decorated in every sense of the word. Baguettes and boules line the shelves; black-and-white aprons hang on the wall. The glass cases are filled with delights of every kind: meringues, sticky buns, mousse tortes and sandwiches. A striking bronze cappuccino maker, imported from Italy, gleams behind the counter.

"Our mission with this store," said Kate," is to make everything the best it can be." Everything—from the bread, to the ham, to the coffee.

The Rickards chose their coffee beans, Kate said, by contacting the five best coffeemakers in the world, then staging their own taste test. Their espresso, by David Mancia, is imported from Honduras. Even the ham in their sandwiches has a pedigree. It's serrano, from Spain, cured in the mountain air. Each loaf of bread takes three days to bake.

"Everything that we want to do, we want to do right," she stressed. The storefront is, after all, a long time coming. That gave the Rickards plenty of time to plan their dream.

The Edgartown location is small, but spacious. There's a kitchen downstairs, where the staff prepares breakfast pastries and cookies. The bread is baked at the Vineyard Haven location, where special ovens are installed. Gates and Kate, who met while studying baking at culinary institute Johnson & Wales University, devised every recipe.

In addition to the baked goods and breads, Rickard's offers ready-made mixes and jams. Two soups are prepared each day. In the future, the Edgartown bakery may add a combo quiche and salad.

Though the doors to the new storefront have been open for several days, Kate described this period as a "soft launch"—a sort of pre-publicity trial period before the summer crowds roll in. "This time is all about making sure things run smoothly, making sure the staff feels comfortable," she said. That hasn't kept the crowds at bay.

In a few weeks, Rickard's will hold a grand opening, at a date yet to be determined. Kate and Gates will invite the public, alert the media and toast to their success. Yet in so many ways, that toast has already begun.

Standing behind the counter in her new surroundings recently, Kate beamed. "To stand here and see our products displayed so beautifully is really a wonderful feeling," she said. "It's great to look back and think: we don't have to go back again."

Rickard's Bakery is open Tuesday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. It will be closed for the February school break. In the summer, the bakery will be open seven days a week, 8 a.m.–9 p.m.