Tasty treats turn stay-at-home mother into entrepreneur
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Bean Counter's Alice Lombardi behind the counter PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

Shrewsbury - The eclectic atmosphere of the Bean Counter Coff ee Bar and Bakery, with its terracotta walls, scattered café tables and embossed tin ceiling, is a far cry from where the business was initially housed: Alice Lombardi's kitchen.

An industrial engineer turned stay-at-home mom, Lombardi turned her passion for desserts into an award-winning, multi-location shop, all with no formal training in business or baking.

"It all started with one apple pie 10 years ago," Lombardi said. "I quit my job in August and had my first restaurant order in September, and then began providing desserts for many high-end restaurants and moms' coff ee hours."

For the first few years, Lombardi worked out of her home, enlisting the help of other mothers and friends in the neighborhood. She now has 30 employees, including a full-time baker, assistant baker, decorators and counter staff .

Although she worked herself out of the kitchen a few years ago, Lombardi is still responsible for customer consultations, custom cake design, new product development and quality control. "That's the best because get to taste everything," she said with a laugh. "I really enjoy developing recipes and refining them, and 99 percent of what I develop in my test kitchen at home makes it to the bakery."

While it may seem like a drastic leap to go from industrial engineer to baker, Lombardi said the training she received at Columbia University is much more relevant than one might think.

"It has made me able to manage my resources, streamline production, increase turnover and, most importantly, manage the demand-to-machine relationships," she said. "This is very important because I'm working with perishables, so I need to know how much to make and when."

No stranger to new challenges, Lombardi recently added wedding cake creator to her résumé at the request of several customers.

"I really didn't want to at first because we were busy enough," she said, "but I just don't like to say no to people."

Lombardi has seen her wedding cake business double over the past two years, and it continues to grow at a rapid speed. She has also been approached by several country clubs that would like to enlist her as their primary cake vendor.

"We use fresh all-natural foods with no preservatives, and we make it from scratch as you would make at home, so I think people really respond to that," she said. "I'm a self-taught pastry chef and home baker, so that's the only way I know how."

Whether it's an elaborate cake for the most important day of your life, a coff ee to go for your morning commute or a gigantic cookie to cheer you up on a terrible afternoon, the Bean Counter Coffee Bar and Bakery doesn't disappoint.

Located at 288 Boston Turnpike and open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., it's a perfect spot to pick up a fruit-filled pastry on your way to work or a tasty dessert for the family on your way home.