Georgia Macon has purchased a building in Cumberland where she plans to launch Mère (website, instagram). The bakery/cafe will be located at 204 Gray Road across the street from Skillins Greenhouses.
Mère is billed as a “a technique-driven comfort bakery”. It will offer naturally leavened breads, pastries, cakes, savory baked goods and a full brewed and espresso-based coffee program. The lunch menu will include classic sandwiches and salads. The draft menu includes items like pain au chocolate, cardamom morning buns, sweet pea danish, plum and fig leaf hand pies, fruit tarts, quiche lorraine, croque madame, baby gem and buttermilk salad and a ploughman’s sandwich.
A special item on the menu will be a Gooey Butter Cake—a regional favorite from her hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri. It is a yeasted yellow cake topped with butter custard and powdered sugar.
Macon shared, “Mère is timeless and trendless. Our goal is to make the best possible version of foods people already know and love—community-driven, chef-executed. We do not bow to topical trends, and we do not fear butter.”
Renovationd to the 2,000 sq ft building are underway and Macon hopes to launch Mère sometime by early fall. When the build out is complete there will be seating for ~30 people as well as a small market that sells prepared foods, take-and-bake meals, beer, wine pantry items and locally produced homegoods. It will be open daily 7 am – 7 pm.
Macon was formerly the executive pastry chef for the Prentice Hospitality Group. She attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Macon worked at Tartine in San Francisco and was part of the team that launched Tartine Manufactory. In 2023 she was recognized as a Rising Star Pastry Chef by Star Chefs.