Popular Sedona gluten-free bakery expands to Flagstaff.
It could be the vegan sourdough bread, organic peanut-butter pie, gluten-free coconut magic bars, scratch-made butternut squash soup, fresh fruit smoothies or any sandwich served on a croissant, but Anastassiya McPherson believes it’s more than any one favorite menu item that keeps the Coffee Inn bustling with return customers, even though it’s only been open for two months.
“There’s a big moms’ community that wants healthy food for their kids,” she said of her new Flagstaff bakery and restaurant that opened on July 4 at 121 E. Birch. “The kids love our dairy-free, gluten-free cupcakes that are also free of dyes and processed sugar. We use all natural ingredients. Even our raspberry jam is organic. We make it ourselves and it’s good for kids.”
Inspired by her own daughter, 2-year-old Victoria, McPherson created a kids’ corner in the café. “It’s a safe place for a baby to play and for parents to enjoy a cup of coffee. There’s nothing like that in Flagstaff. A friend once said to me, ‘If it doesn’t exist, make it yourself.’”
She also serves a downtown workforce crowd of regulars, including lawyers, bankers, retailers and students and has a steady stream of take-out orders.
McPherson is originally from Kazakhstan, where it is customary for girls to learn to cook and bake. “Country women have to know how to cook, including all the cakes and desserts. My first pancake was a disaster. I threw it out the window so my mother wouldn’t find out that I destroyed the pancakes. I was 10.”
She left Kazakhstan for America at age 17. She studied psychology in Europe and then worked in a classic French bakery in Massachusetts where she developed her passion for croissants, eclairs and tarts. That’s also where she met her husband, Seth.
She and Seth moved to Flagstaff three years ago so he could attend Northern Arizona University’s physical therapy program. She began working for a baker in Sedona. A year-and-a-half later, another baker, Karen Russell, founder of Karen’s Gluten-Free Bakery, was selling her shop and moving to the East Coast. That’s when McPherson jumped in and bought the popular bakery.
“Working in the Sedona store, I noticed a lot of people would go to Sedona from Flagstaff just for the bakery. People were coming in on weekends and placing online orders from our website and I was delivering different breads to Flagstaff. I live in Flagstaff, so it made sense for me to do that.”
Today, McPherson keeps a team of bakers busy seven days a week. Most of her products are made in the Sedona store, which still goes by the name of Karen’s Gluten-Free Bakery, open 8 a.m.-4 p.m., daily. The Coffee Inn in Flagstaff is open for breakfast and lunch, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
“I feel like in Sedona, people are more organic food-oriented and people in Flagstaff want something healthy for their kids.”
FBN By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
Photo by Kay Lyons: Anastassiya McPherson is seemingly in constant motion, serving in-person, online and over-the-phone customers at her new Flagstaff breakfast and lunch eatery, the Coffee Inn.