Moving from her home kitchen to farmer markets to pop-ups, Adina St. John's
Blu Kitchen has now found a permanent location for her line of macarons. The bakery will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, Nov. 11 at its new storefront in Plymouth's historic Old Village neighborhood.
St. John moved from Milwaukee to Michigan in 2010. With her kids in school, St. John, who has a background in photography, found the time to start experimenting in the kitchen. Walking around area farmers markets and learning about her new home, St. John wondered aloud if it would be fun to work out of a farmers market. Blu Kitchen was borne out of this confluence of events.
Experimenting with different flavors and demand, St. John started selling her macarons at local spots like Eastern Market and Corktown Farmers Market in 2015. A year later, she realized that pop-ups better served her business, often teaming with mobile coffee shop Drifter Coffee. Now, in 2017, St. John has found a space of her own.
It was that complementary relationship with Drifter Coffee that led to the Blu Kitchen storefront. Visiting her Drifter friends at an event in Plymouth, St. John saw the vacant storefront next door. After months of construction, the 660 sq. ft. space features a full kitchen and pick-up counter.
As construction carried on throughout the year, St. John's neighbors, including the Old Village development board and other local businesses, would often stop in to say hello. Meeting her neighbors and becoming a fabric of the community has been important to St. John.
"It's about being an actual person and not just a business with a generic sign out front," says St. John. "I want to make sure to meet the neighbors and be conscious of what our presence brings to the neighborhood."
Blu Kitchen celebrates its grand opening Saturday, Nov. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They'll be selling their signature macarons, and Drifter Coffee will be parked outside.
Blu Kitchen is located at 965 N. Mill St. in Plymouth.
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