Sonoma's Crisp Bakeshop owners sell the shop, keep the brand

Crisp owners sell bakeshop to Sunflower Caffe owners, plan new ventures|

Moaya Scheiman and Andrea Koweek are selling their retail bakery and coffee shop to James and Mila Hahn, owners of the Sunflower Caffé and the Breakaway Café, as of Jan. 15.

In an email, Koweek said that she and Scheiman have been contemplating retiring for a while and decided it was not practical for Koweek to continue to operate the seven-days-a-week operation while also focusing on their ever-growing cake and event business. The decision was a difficult one as they wanted to make sure that both their family of employees and loyal community of regular guests were going to be taken care of.

“While closing the shop is definitely bittersweet, we couldn't be happier with the future changes and feel like we are leaving the shop in the best hands possible with the Hahns,” said Koweek. While the name will change, the Hahns, along with Melissa Cameron and Aaron Mills, will continue to serve many of the favorite morning pastries people currently enjoy from Crisp Bakeshop, and there will be lots of great new additions on the way as well. “Guests will continue to see familiar faces helping customers out front and in the kitchen,” she added.

But Koweek isn't exactly retiring. Instead, she's returning, along with the Crisp brand, to the Girl and the Fig, where she once worked as director of catering before opening the bakery.

Koweek said she is “thrilled” that Crisp will be joining forces with the Girl & the Fig and continue to produce wedding cakes and cookies, while she takes on a larger role on their executive team. Koweek worked with Bernstein and John Toulze for five years, and they are all looking forward to collaborating once again.

“It made a whole lot of sense, she worked with us for 5 years and helped get us up and going,” said Bernstein.

Scheiman is retiring from the bakery world and plans to use the next few months to delve into a plant-based raw food educational program. “It will be an exciting time for him to do something completely different without the demands of a full-time business operation,” said Koweek.

Scheiman and Koweek agreed that they are appreciative for all the support from the community since their opening in April of 2012. “We will truly miss our daily interaction with our guests,” Koweek said.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.