SWEET ELEGANCE

Award-winning bakery expands to Ross Bridge

By JON ANDERSON

Ross Bridge residents didn’t have to go long without having a bakery in their commercial district.

Just four months after Dreamcakes closed both of its locations in Homewood and Ross Bridge, Kristal Bryant stepped in and opened a second location of K & J’s Elegant Pastries & Creamery in the former Dreamcakes spot in the Ross Bridge Town Center.

K & J’s, which has gained national attention for its designer cakes and “Kollosal” milkshakes and last year received a bronze award for Alabama Retailer of the Year for businesses with sales under $1 million, had just relocated from Alabaster to the Uptown District in Birmingham in April.

Bryant, the founder of the bakery, had no plans to open a second location, especially so soon, but her commercial real estate agent, Abra Barnes, spotted the former Dreamcakes location and said she knew it would be perfect. Bryant agreed.

Two to three years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, K & J’s started bringing its food truck to Ross Bridge and was making appearances every Wednesday night, Bryant said.

“We had a ton of customers we were already familiar with, and we always sold out,” she said.

Plus, a lot of her former customers from Alabaster and Shelby County were missing not having her close by, and a Hoover location is much closer than Birmingham, Barnes said.

The fact that the Dreamcakes spot already was designed as a bakery was just icing on the cake, so to speak.

Bryant redecorated the bakery with pink walls, put her own special touches in place and had the doors back open by late December. And business has been bustling ever since.

“I’m so surprised how busy Ross Bridge is,” Bryant said. “The support we’ve received from the community is just overwhelming, and everybody is just so nice and so welcoming. It’s been amazing.”

Bryant split her staff of 14 people (16 including herself and her husband, who helps when he’s not at his primary railroad job) between Uptown and Ross Bridge. She and one of the bakers rotate back and forth between the two sites as needed.

The Uptown location has a dining area and has walk-in traffic, but it’s more of a “production kitchen” that handles a lot of large and corporate orders, Bryant said. The Uptown site also handles a lot of DoorDash orders because of the volume of people working in downtown Birmingham, she said.

The Ross Bridge location has more seating and, at least at the outset, has seen a lot more walk-in business. It has seating for at least 50 people inside and another 25 outside, Bryant said. Also, part of the dining area can easily be sectioned off for birthday parties, team parties or other group events, she said.

“I’m super-excited about the birthday parties,” she said. She already has partnered with Front Porch, a Ross Bridge restaurant, to provide pizza for birthday parties as well, she said. It’s designed to make it easy for parents to plan a party, she said.

“The parents just have to show up with the kids, and that’s it,” Bryant said.

Ross Bridge resident Alex Tate said she and her family were so excited to see K & J’s open. She and her 5-year-old daughter, Allison, formerly visited Dreamcakes every Friday afternoon as a reward if her daughter was good at school that week and love that they can restart that tradition with K & J’s, she said.

The Tates had visited K & J’s in Uptown three times already and fallen in love with the strawberry cupcakes with strawberry brownies on top, she said. “It’s too good to be true.”

One of Allison’s friends also had a birthday cake from K & J’s, and Tate said she plans to order Allison’s sixth birthday cake from K & J’s. She also knows her husband will want to get one of the bakery’s “Kollosal” milkshakes, she said.

Fame And Fortune

Bryant, who has been in the food business for about 20 years, has achieved a good bit of notoriety for her designer cakes and milkshakes. After being featured in an article on AL.com in 2017, the story of her business and creative talent got picked up by Southern Living magazine. She went on to be featured on the Travel Channel and Food Channel and has been on ABC’s “Good

Morning America” show twice. Her business skyrocketed after the first round of publicity, forcing her to hire more help, she said.

“I literally went from three employees to 16 employees within a three-week space,” she said.

Her business now has 64,000 followers on Facebook and 31,000 followers on Instagram. She has people from all over the country dropping into her bakery as they travel, she said.

“People were driving from Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Texas — everywhere,” she said.

She also has started taking quite a number of orders from the Atlanta area, including some celebrities. One of the stars of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” ordered a wedding cake from her, and another ordered a birthday cake, she said.

Bryant’s “bread and butter,” as she likes to put it, is her cakes. She does traditional cakes, but she is best known for her creative designs. She can design a cake to look like pretty much anything, from Baby Yoda to a tennis shoe or cheeseburger.

K & J’s bakes some cakes that people can drop in and pick up, even if they haven’t placed an order in advance, priced at $75, but Bryant’s specialty is the custom cakes. They start at $150, with the price varying depending on the size, difficulty and time required, she said. She recently baked a cake to feed 500 people at an Italian wedding at The Club, and it cost $7,000, she said.

Brittany Sharp, an event planner based in both Atlanta and Birmingham, said she has been using K & J’s for cakes since 2012 and has ordered more than 400 cakes from Bryant.

“Kristal is without a doubt my go-to person [for cakes], even for events in Atlanta,” Sharp said.

Bryant has an ability to listen to the vision of the person ordering the cake and bring it to fruition, but with her creativity, she comes up with ideas to make a cake design even better, Sharp said.

“Not only is her attention to detail just impeccable,” she said. “Her cakes are just amazing to eat.”

Also, “in this business, it is really hard to find people that aren’t just here for money,” Sharp said. She can trust Bryant to go above and beyond no matter the price point, she said. “She really puts her all into each design so that it’s something people can be proud of.”

Other Goodies

While K & J’s typically makes 30 to 40 cakes per week, the bakery also specializes in cupcakes and has more than 100 flavors, including red velvet chicken and waffles, pancakes and bacon, and Fruit Loops, Bryant said. There’s even a cupcake called “Karlyn’s Soul Food Cupcake” that includes a honey cornbread muffin with candied yam icing, and fried chicken drizzled with honey and parsley flakes.

Her bakers usually make 12 to 15 flavors of cupcakes a day, with the menu changing daily. She frequently shows off the flavors of the day on social media. Cupcakes cost from $3.75 to $5.75 apiece.

K & J’s also has 14 flavors of milkshakes. They make traditional milkshakes — like strawberry, vanilla and chocolate — for $7.25, but the bakery and creamery gained much attention for its giant “Kollosal” milkshakes, overflowing with extras such as Oreos, s’mores, cupcakes, caramel corn, vanilla wafers, candy and pretzels. Those are priced from $10.99 to $14.99 and are made for sharing. Other sweets at K & J’s include ice cream by the scoop or cone and ice cream sundaes.

EARLY LOVE FOR COOKING, ART

Bryant developed a love for cooking at a young age. Her mother is a great cook, and Bryant always helped her in the kitchen, she said. She has known she wanted to be a chef since she was a 14-year-old freshman at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, she said.

Her art teacher brought in a guest speaker from The Art Institute of Atlanta, who talked about the different kinds of art and introduced her to the term “culinary art.”

It was perfect for her because she liked to cook, draw and paint, so she decided to mix those passions, she said.

She wanted to attend The Art Institute of Atlanta but couldn’t due to financial reasons, so she went to the

University of West Alabama instead, she said. She hated it and decided to enroll in Culinard, the culinary institute of Virginia College in Birmingham, where she received training in the savory side of the business.

Bryant went to work at The Cheesecake Factory at The Summit and stayed there from 2004 to 2011, working every station in the kitchen, she said. She loved the experience, but it was too repetitive and didn’t allow her to express her creativity enough, she said.

So, on the side, she started experimenting with cakes and taught herself how to bake, carve and ice cakes, she said. At first, she just did it for friends and family, but she created the name K & J’s in 2007 and started taking orders in 2009. In 2011, she left The Cheesecake Factory, set up a website and went into baking full-time.

Bumps In The Road

In the beginning, she was working from home, but in 2012, a disgruntled customer called the health department on her and she had to shut down because her home bakery didn’t meet all the requirements, such as a kitchen and entrance separate from her home, she said.

She found a space to rent off Kent Dairy Road in Alabaster at the end of 2012 and set up her first storefront, with a $15,000 boost from her mother and financial support from her husband, she said. In 2017, she relocated to U.S. 31 in Alabaster and started serving ice cream and milkshakes, too.

That’s when K & J’s got so much attention and business exploded.

Bryant decided to move the business to her hometown of Birmingham and signed a lease in the Uptown district in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the move.

Her business was hit hard by the shutdown but was kept alive by her food truck, which was able to serve people in outdoor areas. The BJCC saved her a space in Uptown, and she was finally able to move in there in April.

Business has been very good, she said. She has been running anywhere from $600,000 to $800,000 in sales a year and expects that to only grow with the new location in Ross Bridge, she said.

She may one day expand to Atlanta or other states, but for now, “we’ll just see how it goes,” she said. Her next goal is to figure out how to effectively ship some of her goodies, she said. Now, everything is made fresh daily, but she gets a lot of requests to ship items all over the country, she said.

See more of K & J’s Elegant Pastries’ products at kjselegantpastries. com.

Dr. Rekha Chadalawada of Summit Pediatrics has opened a second location off Valleydale Road across from Jefferson State Community College's Shelby-Hoover campus at 1200 Providence Park, Suite 100. The original location of Summit Pediatrics opened in Chelsea in 2013. Dr. Chadalawada also has been a part of Sylacauga Pediatrics since 1999. Sylacauga Pediatrics and Summit Pediatrics have a combined four pediatricians and four nurse practitioners. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. The practice sees patients from birth to age 21.

205-637-0044, sylacaugapediatrics.com of months.

205-438-6264, kilwins.com

The Power Brands Hospitality Group opened a franchise location of Biscuit Belly, a Kentucky-based breakfast and brunch restaurant, in The Village at Brock’s Gap at 1031 Brock's Gap Parkway, Suite 157, on Feb. 7. Biscuit Belly focuses on Southern-style breakfast food and includes most of the staples such as eggs, bacon, sausage links, hash browns, French toast, pancakes, fresh fruit and, of course, biscuits. The eatery offers at least a dozen kinds of biscuit sandwiches, four different kinds of gravy, milk, tea, coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and an array of breakfast cocktails. Andrew and Rachel Adams are the operators. 205-559-1892, biscuitbelly.com

All Original Pizzeria in late January opened a third location in The Centre at Riverchase shopping center at 1694 Montgomery Highway, Suite 116. The first location opened at 4760 Eastern Valley Road in McCalla in 2003.

Suvas Berawala bought the restaurant in 2016 and in 2017 opened a second location at 215 Helena Marketplace in Helena. The pizzeria is open for pickup and delivery only. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sundays.

205-639-1801, alloriginalpizzeria.com

Kilwins Chocolates on Feb. 6 opened in the former location of FAB Fruit at 5220 Peridot Place in the Stadium Trace Village development. The Petoskey, Michigan-based company specializes in confectioneries such as chocolates, ice cream, fudge, caramel apples and other candy. This is the second Kilwins franchise in Alabama, the first being in Orange Beach. The owners of this franchise are Matthew and Christy Moore, and it will be managed by their son, Harrison Jones. The Moores now have six other Kilwins locations, including two in Atlanta and one each in Destin, Knoxville, Columbus, Georgia, and The Villages in Florida. They plan to open a second Destin location within a couple

Total Body Co is now open at 3037 Lorna Road, Suite 102, and provides an array of services including lymphatic massage (for lymphedema and after general or cosmetic surgery), bariatric massage (for after bariatric surgery) and body contouring services.

205-953-2416, alabamaspa.space

McKenzie Strategies is now open at 200 Chase Park S., Suite 226, near the intersection of Riverchase Park and U.S. 31. The new mental health group practice offers non-emergency counseling services to individual adults/ adolescents/children, couples and families experiencing issues including, but not limited to: depression, anxiety, trauma, stress management, grief, life transitions, self-esteem and identity issues, relationship issues, and school issues. Founded by LPC and Clinical Supervisor Matt McKenzie, the practice includes three full-time licensed counselors — Savannah Becotte, MA, ALC; Ryan Jackson, MA, ALC; and Kristin Williams, MA, ALC — who are accepting new clients for in-person and telehealth appointments using private pay (sliding scale options available), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and Medicaid. The practice also includes FLY (Freedom Lies in You), a program for area military veterans and police/fire first responders seeking peer support and coping skills. 205-517-3102, mckenziestrategies.com

Relocations And Renovations

Alabama Reweaving & Alterations has relocated from Homewood to The Plaza at Riverchase shopping center in Hoover at 1845 Montgomery Highway, Suite 225. The new store is located between Nail Line and Angel Spa. The shop specializes in wedding gowns, bridesmaids' dresses and prom dresses and also does other men's and ladies' formal wear, leather, furs, monograms and jeans. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

205-870-5961, alabamareweaving.com

Ambit Solutions, a communications company that offers voiceover IP, paging, intercom and other services, is opening a new executive and sales office in a 2,500-square-foot space on the ninth floor of The Offices at 3000 Riverchase office tower next to the Riverchase Galleria. The company signed a fiveyear lease for that space and should be able to occupy the space by March

1, said Alan Paquette, vice president of property management for Jim Wilson & Associates, which owns the tower. Ambit Solutions also will maintain ifs office and warehouse space at 3520 Lorna Ridge Drive, Paquette said. 205-829-1800, ambit-llc.com

Optometrist Paige Chambers has relocated her optometry practice from the Pearle Vision Center at 1717 Montgomery Highway, Suite 117 in the Riverchase Promenade shopping center to the Pelham Walmart at 2181 Pelham Parkway. Chambers had worked with Pearle Vision Center for 25 of the 27 years she has been in practice, with 20 of those years at the Hoover location. Pearle Vision had been in the Riverchase Galleria until this past summer, when it relocated to Riverchase Promenade, Chambers said. 205-987-0696, walmart.com/ store/5262-pelham-al

Hoover Family Medicine has relocated from 3081 Lorna Road, Suite 101, to 774 Shades Mountain Plaza, expanding from six patient rooms to eight. The office is under the direction of Dr. Shelly Weisenfeld, with care also being given by nurse practitioners Dr. Ramona Roach-Davis, Candace Harris and Natasha Melton. 205-979-3381, hooverfamilymedicine. com

Strategies for Healthcare Solutions a medical practice through which nurse practitioner Dr. Ramona Roach-Davis provides health care to veterans, has relocated from 3081 Lorna Road, Suite 101, to 774 Shades Mountain Plaza. 205-979-3381

News And Accomplishments

Alicia Huey, a Greystone resident, home builder and developer with more than 30 years of experience in the home building industry, recently was elected as the 2023 chairman of the National Association of Home Builders during the association’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas. Huey is president of AGH Homes, a custom home building company she founded in 2000. In addition to building high-end custom homes for buyers on individual lots, AGH Homes has also built in several golf course communities in Hoover and Vestavia Hills.

The ARC Realty office at 5220 Peridot Place, Suite 124, in the Stadium Trace Village development closed out its third full calendar year at that location with a record $249,500,000 in sales volume. 205-969-8912, arcrealtyco.com

Personnel Moves

Kimberly Brimer has joined Cadillac of Birmingham at 1677 Montgomery Highway as a sales consultant. 205-834-1687, cadillacofbirmingham. com

ARC Realty has added Marcia Montgomery, Kileigh Woller and Maudrecus Humphrey as new real estate agents at its Hoover office in the Stadium Trace Village development at 5220 Peridot Place, Suite 124. 205-969-8912, arcrealtyco.com

Burn Boot Camp’s Hoover location in The Village at Brock's Gap at 1021 Brock's Gap Parkway, Suite 121, has welcomed Brandi Davis into a new role as its client experience manager. Davis will continue to serve as the community relations and events coordinator for all three of Burn Boot Camp's locations in the Birmingham-Hoover area (Hoover, Meadow Brook and Homewood). She has been a member of Burn Boot Camp since 2019 and has served as the hospitality chairperson at Gwin Elementary School and Hoover High School. 205-325-1884, burnbootcamp.com

Lisa Guarino is the new broker at the ERA King Real Estate office in The Galleries at Riverchase shopping center at 3075 John Hawkins Parkway. 205-979-2335, eraking.com

Regions Bank has promoted consumer banking manager Teresa Vick to serve as market executive for the bank in Shelby County, where Regions operates numerous bank branches and three corporate facilities. Vick has more than 40 years of consumer banking experience, serving individuals and businesses. She joined Regions’ predecessor bank, AmSouth, in

2000 and leads teams delivering a wide range of banking services through more than a dozen Regions branches in the state. As market executive, Vick will now also work with business groups across the bank to guide their teams and work to advance community engagement in the area. Vick is a graduate of the Alabama Banking School at the University of South Alabama. She serves on the Jefferson State Community College advisory board, the Boys and Girls Club Greater Birmingham advisory board and the Shelby County Chamber board of directors. 800-734-4667, regions.com

Anniversaries

Brock's Gap Brewing Co. celebrates its first anniversary In March. The brewery is located at 500 Mineral Trace, Suite 100, right next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. 205-848-7837, brocksgapbrewing.com

Closings

Brad and Kaye Tompkins have closed their FAB Fruit business at 5220 Peridot Place in the Stadium Trace Village development The Tompkins originally opened a City Bowls franchise there in June 2021 but ended their relationship with City Bowls and reopened as FAB Fruit in October 2021. Brad Tompkins said the City Bowls that later opened in The Village at Brock's Gap diluted their customer base and helped lead to the decision to close.

Alabama MedScreen, a business that provided alcohol and drug testing, DNA testing, gender reveals and medical records retrieval, has permanently closed. The business was in The Village on Lorna at 3321 Lorna Road, Suite 6.

The Yankee Candle store at the Riverchase Galleria has closed. Its last day of business was Jan. 28. That was the only Yankee Candle store in Alabama. 205-987-2333, yankeecandle.com