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New bakery to open on Manchester square

With its open kitchen, vibrant artwork and exposed brick wall featuring family photos, bakehouse owner Brianne Melcher wanted to create a fun and inviting space for people to enjoy a variety of small batch baked goods ranging from a classic chocolate chip cookie to cakes, scones and muffins.

Melcher and her husband Grey have been working on the space, located at 116 S. Spring St. on Manchester’s historic square for more than a year in preparation for their opening day Saturday, May 13.

“I am a baker and we moved here about two years ago,” Melcher said. “The space came up for lease and we just went for it. We just rolled the dice and decided, let’s see what happens, so here we are.”

Melcher was in her thirties before she began baking about 10 years ago during a difficult period in her life while living in California.

“It came at a time where I was really suffering from untreated alcoholism and I drank and really just ran my life into the ground,” she said.

Melcher was then asked to start baking for the coffee shop she worked at, and she channeled all her energy into the new endeavor.

“For whatever reason it just allowed me to really focus and obsess on something healthy,” Melcher said. “I was able to, I think through baking, be able to slowly put my life together.”

Melcher began searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and over a period of a year baked hundreds of the favorite treat until she came upon just the right version.

“I just took that obsessive alcoholic mind and just dumped it into baking and slowly life started to get back together as a result of, I stopped drinking, baked and just tried to mend all the bridges that I burned,” she said. “I have just been baking ever since.”

Eventually Melcher opened a small wholesale bakery in California before relocating to Manchester with her family. With two daughters, Melcher said she and her husband want to create a place where they can feel rooted in the Manchester community that is now their home.

“I just want this to be a place that is joy-filled,” Melcher said. “I just want people to come in and have a treat.”

Discovering baking and sharing her food with people is something Melcher described as life changing.

“The relationships I have made with people through food and talking about food, it is so impactful,” she said. “This is the God-given gift I have and I want to be able to give it to other people and do it with my family.”

Melcher described herself as a self-taught baker, learning by the process of trial and error.

While she will be joined by her husband in the bakery, they have no other employees at this time.

“It is just me baking,” she said. “My husband will be here helping and he is a lot of things, but a baker is not one of them.”

For opening day, customers can expect to see a bakery case filled with an assortment of cookies, scones, cinnamon rolls, muffins and cake slices. Custom ordered cakes will also be available through bakehouse.

“When I started baking people would order cakes and I didn’t know how to pipe frosting, so I would just get a bunch of fresh flowers and go to town and that became my signature thing,” Melcher said. “I continued to do that because I think it is just a beautiful way to decorate a cake, so I use fresh local flowers from Southern Flora Farms here in town.”

After its opening day May 13, bakehouse will be open 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

For more information, visit the bakehouse Facebook page.