One way to make a friend is to crash into their car and total it. That’s how Seunghoi An met real estate broker Mark New in the days leading up to this Saturday’s opening of her bakery Love Crumble at 1759 NW 24th Ave. “We’ve been fast friends ever since,” said New, who bought the former Food Front Cooperative Grocery building last year, is feeling buoyed by the recent energy on Thurman Street.
Playing it safe, I walked there and was led inside by the sister of the owner Seunghoi An.
Seunghoi is a Korean name (pronounced “sung way”) that means joy. She is the epitome of the word.
She gave me a quick tour, showing me the milk bottles from Helvetia’s Schoch Dairy, where she drives to pick up the milk herself.
“The cows are really, really cute,” she said.
She mixes custard with the milk, a bit of heavy cream, egg yolk and vanilla bean all mixed in with brown sugar and salt. The custard becomes part of their signature Crumble, a layered dessert made of fruit compote, cookie crumb and custard.
“It’s a British dessert,” she said. “We’ll seasonally change the flavors. For the opening we’ll have apple berry crumble that features apples from Kiyokawa Orchards. Mmm.”
The custard goes in drinks, too, including matcha, coffee, cold brew and hojicha. Tea is sourced from Cup of Tea.
“How much matcha do you drink daily, I asked.
“A lot, a lot,” she said.
“The matcha comes from a farm in Japan. One is a blended matcha that has very floral deep notes and is kind of savory and has some really nice umami,” she said. “Another is brighter and lighter. The green tea is roasted at a low temperature so it “has a really nice smoky richness.”
Like the best tea of all, Oolong? I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” she said. “It’s very yummy.”
Love Crumble opens on Halloween and will be open roughly 5-10 p.m. to start.
“We want this to be a place both for young people to come and study or work on some projects, to feel like you’re entering someone’s home,” she said. “A place that’s safe and enjoyable where you can enjoy conversation over a little dessert. A lot of places open late are serving alcohol and all the coffee places close at 4 or 5 p.m. So we want to give that space back to the younger generation.”
What fun!
Address is
1759 NW24th
Be there or be square!