Moving Pastries

Marc Heu is moving, and the internet has Some Feelings about it.

They are moving from their original site at Western and University to a spot at Selby and Dale (so close I can see it out of my back window!). They will have a larger space, adding expanded coffee service, seating, an outdoor patio, and then light lunch and dinner. For the record, I am beyond excited about this!

There are three main responses on the internet about this. The first seems to indicated they have "sold out" in some way by moving the 1.2 miles out of Frogtown, and in the press release, the owners indicate the emotional pull of that move in a quote by Gaosong Her:

So, leaving Frogtown is crazy emotional for us. Half the fights Marc and I have ever had are: Leaving Frogtown, could we ever? But our customers keep asking: Could you get some chairs and somewhere to sit, please? And we’ve got other dreams, with savory, breads, a café like you’d fine in Paris.

I still remember the first Marc Heu pastry I had, at a Little Mekong night market on a hot summer night, sitting outside and sharing it with Beatrix while watching a dance performance and the streets filled with people. As a Saint Paul girl tied to my neighborhoods, I understand Her's feelings. I think there will be a loss to that corner with the store leaving, in the same way the announcement that there will be no night markets (at least this year, due to increasing costs especially in police coverage at 4x the previous rate) hits Frogtown hard. I don't know the answer there. But it does seem that the bakery is moving TO rather than moving FROM, and I think that's a good sign.

I got embroiled in a controversy last night when I posted the article about the move and quipped "There goes my waistline!" (another friend had a similar experience discussing her budget.) Which is true, that place is my kryptonite and with it close by and me passing it 6-8 times a day, I think I'll be stopping in a lot. But to me, having Marc Heu that close by and supporting a small business by eating delicious food is well worth it (especially since I think my middle-aged body is here to stay). To anyone who felt that that comment was making a judgement about anyone else's body size, I truly am sorry. I'm here to normalize eating delicious pastries!

Finally, I saw people comment "Why there and not XYZ corner?" And here I do have a measure of pride. I worked (though not as hard as others) on the campaign to save the building that it's going into — a 1915 garage that is important because it helps to represent the broader patterns of history, and one that was threatened by a large new apartment building going up. It's important that we save more than just fancy old houses, that, as I said to the SHPO last fall about another building (the Hamline-Midway library):

For far too long, the historic properties deemed worth of saving have represented mainly those demonstrating the highest examples of style and purpose, the “Washington slept here” kinds of places. It’s natural for the preservation movement to have started there — but we’ve moved beyond that. We are currently in strong danger of losing a great number of the properties that clearly represent our larger patterns of history, the kinds of places where people from throughout the community gathered (and continue to gather). While the integrity and style of the building remain strong,

We know from study after studythat heritage preservation visitors stay longer, visit more places, and spend more than their non-historic-oriented counterparts. Historic preservation is not just an economic development engine (though it is that), but something that brings people to places that they want to be a part of. And so the answer as to why the bakery and the hair salon is going in in that building, on that corner, is that is has a strong and unique sense of place that draws people in, and that the small businesses who locate there know that and use it to their advantage. If Saint Paul would more strongly comprehend that factor, we would all be better off.

So welcome, Marc Heu. (and readers, I will meet you there for a pastry anytime!)