Written by Marla Milling
Every December we profile the region’s rising cottage industry stars in our annual Sweet & Savory feature. This time we’re revisiting the most popular makers from issues past to see how they’ve grown.
We last checked in with Meg Shearer, owner of Whisk AVL, in December 2016. At that time, she was working out of the Westville Pub kitchen crafting its breads and desserts and running Whisk on the side.
Shearer had always worked toward a goal of having her own bakery kitchen, but it happened serendipitously in May 2019 when she was out running errands and spotted a “For Rent” sign on a cute little purple building at 801 Smoky Park Highway in Candler. She glanced in the window and saw restaurant equipment sitting idle. She quickly jumped at the chance to have her own space, but at the time she thought it might be a little odd to have a drive-thru bakery.
The building is only 430-sq.-ft.—just big enough for her to make a variety of pastries, including her famous cinnamon rolls, scones, wedding cakes, quiche, and more. When she launched, Shearer had enough wholesale and custom work to carry her and believed if she could make at least $100 a day with drive-thru sales, she’d be in great shape.
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