Contest-Winning Cake Shop Leaving Town

North Hampton will soon have to say goodbye to one of its most popular small businesses, as Wild Orchid Baking Company will leave town in pursuit of larger kitchen space and opportunity in Dover.

Pastry chef and owner Erin Gardner, who recently steamrolled her competition on the Food Network's "Sweet Genius" cooking competition show, said she hopes to move into a two-unit space in one of Dover's repurposed mill complexes around Nov. 1.

Gardner said she's "really excited" to take her confectionary skills to the Garrison City, although she said it is sad to bid farewell to the only home her 3-year-old custom wedding and event business has ever known.

"I really did love it here and it was a good place to start... but you got to do what you got to do," said Gardner.

When Wild Orchid first opened at 122 Lafayette Road in North Hampton, the business had a retail area in order for Gardner to sell her creations, much like a bakery.

Wild Orchid has since dropped the retail portion of its business, and Gardner said the North Hampton building "now doesn't really make sense" because the retail area is mainly used for storage and would require substantial renovations to turn it into the larger kitchen area Gardner said she needs.

Gardner opened Wild Orchid roughly three years ago after working at Max Downtown in Hartford, Conn., and serving as head pastry chef at acclaimed establishments like Locke Ober in Boston, Mass., and the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford.

Gardner won $10,000 for her "Sweet Genius" victory. She previously told Patch she used the money to pay bills and treat herself following the "reaffirming" victory.