A local artisan bakery will be the newest vendor to join White Star Market, opening in the Mid City gourmet food hall on Sunday, June 17.
Counterspace BR will be the first brick and mortar location for owner Sarah Hays, a local baker whose popular cookies and dessert treats have amassed a following at the Mid City Makers Market and at local coffee shops, including French Truck and Light House Coffee.
Hays will be the ninth vendor at the food hall. A tenth vendor is in the works, likely to be announced in coming months, says White Star owner Clark Gaines.
The market—which opened to much fanfare on May 11—is averaging about 1,200 to 1,500 customers a day through its doors, Gaines says. As with any Mid City establishment, parking can be a challenge, but otherwise, the vendors are handling the demand well.
“It’s been wonderful so far,” Gaines says. “The neighborhoods have really responded well. Vendors are doing great.”
The menu at Counterspace BR will include cookies, cakes, desserts, breakfast pastries, avocado bread and English muffins. The new vendor will be the first bakery at White Star.
Hays, a Baton Rouge resident and Lafayette native, says she’s excited to take her bakery business to the next level at White Star. She’s previously lived in Washington D.C., which had a food hall as well, and she says the concept is exactly what Baton Rouge needs.
“The way it creates community and collaboration, a spot for people to go not only to eat but to work or meet up with friends—it’s a neat concept,” Hays says. “Baton Rouge has been aching for something like this.”
