Valentin and Michelle Garcia
with their son Gabriel.
Photo: Marc PoKempner
February 2006
A Hot Bakery with a Lot of Heart
By Susan DeGrane
Seated at a vintage 1950s dinette and surrounded by hot pink walls, Michelle Garcia feeds her one-year-old son, Gabriel Garcia. The baby smiles and in another moment rides happily on his mother’s hip as she bustles around the Bleeding Heart Bakery, 2018 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago.
Sporting hot-pink hair extensions piled high in a beehive hairdo, tattoos that cover her neck and arms, and heavy-framed glasses made from old record albums, Garcia is dressed in a hot-pink dress that reveals a slight tummy. She’s expecting another child with her husband, former meat cutter and soup chef Valentin Garcia, who celebrates his birthday on — what else? — Valentine’s Day.
The storefront bakery located in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village sells organic and vegan pastries, cookies and cakes — even a chocolate tofu mousse — as well as organic sandwiches and salads. For Valentine’s Day, the Bleeding Heart is introducing a new line of truffles, a raspberry and dark chocolate mousse cake and a passion fruit pot de crème.
There are a few non-vegan specialties such as the pot roast sandwiches on fresh baguette and the macaroni and cheese casserole containing goat cheese from Wisconsin. The eatery uses separate equipment for their preparation and baking.
It all started last Halloween, when the couple joined with partners, Nicole Cavalucci and Bill Drew, to open a business described on their website as a marriage of “politics and pastry.”
And according to customers, the place takes the cake with its vegan and organic pastries. “There are so many other organic products out there that seem so crude. With this, they know what they’re doing,” said Norm Gershon, who walked out of the bakery with a sticky bun, a chocolate chip cookie, a goat cheese and apricot tart with gingersnap crust, and a cranberry pound cake. “It’s very refreshing, definitely a step up, plus I like the California vibe they’ve got going on.”
Not too many other Chicago bakeries feature red, faux-fur-covered refrigerator cases.
Another customer, Jonathon Cihlar, stopped in for some chocolate chip and gingersnap cookies, and a cranberry scone: “Overall I was quite pleased with what I found. Most bakeries don’t offer vegan options. I’m not sure if it’s because there isn’t enough of a demand or if because of the perceived difficulty of creating good pastries without dairy and eggs. As a result, I was really happy to find this place.”
Ingredients for all of the products are provided by local farmers and candy makers, with only one exception. The flour comes from California because Garcia prefers its consistent quality. At one time, she even attempted to use flour made from locally grown wheat, but inconsistent quality and gluten levels required frequent recipe adjustments.
Because Garcia doesn’t believe in purchasing out-of-season fruits that must travel long distances, bakery fare has a seasonal flare. For instance, during the months of November, December and January scones and mousse were flavored with cranberries. The bakery will be reintroducing raspberries this month.
“It’s amazing that people don’t think about it,” she said. “I have some friends who started buying peppers from China to save money. They don’t see (locally grown, organic) peppers as a great marketing tool. They also don’t consider the resources wasted in order to buy them from one place and send them somewhere else to be dried.”
As part of her schooling, she was invited to work at the DeTaart Van M’n Tante, a cake shop in Amsterdam. A nearby store kept a cow out back to supply its milk, butter and cheese. “I was totally amazed at this, just the way of life,” Garcia said. “It was the cheapest way for them to run their business.”
Her baking credentials include six years of studying culinary and pastry arts in Chicago at Kendall College, the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago and the French Pastry School. She also has worked for Whole Foods Market and lived briefly in San Francisco, where she was exposed to organic foods restaurants.
“When I returned to Chicago, I was depressed,” she said. “I was in culture shock.” For a couple of summers, she brought her baked goods to farmers markets. But then, realizing that Chicago had few organic or vegan bakeries, she decided to set up shop.
While pregnant, she obtained an online business degree and developed a business plan. “I decided if I wanted to raise my son with the (organic) lifestyle I love, I would have to make a life for him.”
Susan DeGrane is the assistant editor of Conscious Choice magazine.
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