A mom-and-pop vegan cafe, a nut-free chocolatier and a gluten-free bakery – these are three restaurants that could not be found on Franklin Street until now. Blue Dogwood Public Market, a food hall opening Friday, wants to provide varied cuisines and local-sourced food to the town and help local businesses.
What started as a search for a bakery by now vendor and part-owner of Blue Dogwood, Kelly Taylor, ended up as an opportunity for local vendors to come together under one roof. Taylor owns a gluten-free bakery in Blue Dogwood called Pizzelle Bakery and her inspiration came from her own dietary needs.
“I don’t eat gluten or dairy and I wanted to be able to eat somewhere,” Taylor said.
She said this space was too big for just her own bakery, so she came up with the concept for a food market. Taylor said Pizzelle Bakery is the only retail gluten-free bakery in the Triangle and her food comes from her Italian-American heritage.
“It’s all Italian, but it’s kind of hodge-podge. It’s Italian-style recipes with Southern-style ingredients,” Taylor said.
Taylor is not the only one whose restaurant sprouted from a dietary need. Husband-and-wife team, Maat Emmaakheru and Yah-i Ausar Tafari Amen, came up with the idea for Vegan Flava Cafe after their homemade food began to gain popularity in their travels.