Kalurah Street Grill pastry chef Kaila Kay and executive chef Kelley McCann are planning to open a new bakery on the site of the former Jiffy Lube on Perkins Road near College Drive.
Cane & Fig Artisan Bakery will have a storefront for retail customers but will also be a wholesaler supplying other restaurants, including Kalurah Street Grill.
“Kelley and I have a concept for a retail and wholesale bakery that will fulfill a need in the Baton Rouge culinary scene,” Kay says. “We’re very excited.”
Cane & Fig’s roughly 2,000-square-foot space will need to undergo extensive renovations before the bakery’s anticipated opening early next spring. The building was occupied by Jiffy Lube for several years before being vacated several months ago.
Kalurah Street co-owner Brad Watts says plans for the bakery are still under review so it’s too soon to say how much the renovations will cost. He and co-owner Chad Hughes are backing the new venture.
Kay, who is one of the few restaurant-based pastry chefs in the region, says the bakery’s fare will be familiar to regular patrons of Kalurah Street Grill and will feature artisan breads, croissants and pastries.
“We’re going to keep with K Street’s modern American style,” she says. “We’re going to have fun with it and see what Baton Rouge is willing to try.”
Currently, Kalurah Street Grill and French Truck Coffee are Kay’s only two restaurant customers, but she says with more space she plans to grow her wholesale business.
Kay graduated from the Louisiana Culinary Institute in 2013, then went back to the institute to pursue a degree in baking and pastries to make herself more marketable. She joined Kalurah Street when it opened in late 2015.
—Stephanie Riegel
