Jessica Rogen
Star Café & Bakery served traditional Afghan bread and pastries.
The air around Holly Hills smells a little less sweet after the departure of the beloved (albeit short-lived) bakery. Star Cafe & Bakery (5547 South Grand Blvd.). It opened in July of this year and is now closed. The store served its last customer last week.
Star owner Nikki Ahmadi announced the news on Dec. 16 on her pastry business’s Facebook page, Bake.with.nikki, citing “personal issues” as the reason for her decision. She looks forward to welcoming her next year.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Star Café & Bakery. One year ago today we were very excited to open our storefront to better serve our customers. , at this moment, I give priority to my private life.”
Ahmadi opened Star Cafe & Bakery in a small storefront near the corner of South Grand Boulevard and Bates Avenue in Holly Hills this past July. Ahmadi, an Afghan refugee who moved to St. Louis as a child 20 years ago, ditched everything to follow his bread-making dream after finding success in his corporate accounting.as Ahmadi said Riverfront Times In an interview in August of this year, she began baking as a form of stress relief in her spare time, but after winning the Best Tasting Cake Award at the 2019 Bride St. I noticed that there is something Bake full time.
But fans of Ahmadi’s cardamom-scented cookies and sweet-and-salty Kulche Shaw treats needn’t worry. Ahmadi continues to offer pastries and custom his orders through the Bake.with.nikki brand. The brand is accessible to customers through her Facebook page of the same name.
Ahmadi did not rule out the possibility of reopening physical stores at some point, noting in response to comments that she would “consider reopening and relocating in the long term.” But for now, she’s happy to make sweet treats at her own pace for her regular customers who have shown support over the past year.
“We would like to thank all our customers for their loyalty and support, and we will continue to serve them to the best of our ability through custom orders and requests as we have in the past,” Ahmadi wrote.
We have reached out to Ahmadi and will update this story as additional information becomes available.
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