Thursday, August 11, 2011

Capitol Hill Bakery Opens

Cupcake by REL Waldman
Cupcake, a photo by REL Waldman on Flickr.



It's a little south of H Street, but the opening (Saturday 11-5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm) of Capitol Hill Bakery is generating lots of local buzz. The space at 411 18th Street NE was previously home to Cafe Roma (I think it's the same owners). The primary specialty will be cupcakes, but you'll also be able to purchase scones, muffins, cookies, tiramisu, and traditional cakes.

Check out the cupcake menu after the jump.

CUPCAKE MENU

We have a huge variety of daily, weekly & seasonal cupcake flavors

Carrot cake Red Velvet
Key West Chocolate Peanut Butter
Tiramisu Espresso
Classic Vanilla Black Velvet
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Chocolate Ganache
Black & White Classic Chocolate
Cup of Java Vanilla Birthday
Decadent Decadent Carrot Top
Vanilla & Chocolate Chocolate Walnuts
Cappuccino White Mocha
Chocolate Birthday Day and Night

Our cupcakes are made from scratch and handcrafted from the finest ingredients.
They are baked daily in small batches, generously frosted and topped with a variety of edible delights.

Capitol Hill cupcakes are perfect for many occasions, such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, office parties and just about anything else you can think of.

18 comments:

Tom A. said...

Received this nice email today. It's not ALL about cupcakes!

Dear Patrons of Café Roma,
We are pleased to announce that we are coming back to the same premises in a new look as Capitol Hill Bakery. We have in fact been operating our bakery for the past few months, but next weekend we will open part of Café Roma as a retail place for our baked goods. Our premium products are gourmet CUPCAKES, with favorite and exotic flavors, and already dubbed as awesome by many connoisseurs. We also have other products such as muffins, scones, cookies and traditional cakes of different flavors (see attached flyer). We look forward to seeing you next weekend Saturday August 13th and Sunday August 14th .

Thanks
Yohannes
Capitol Hill Cupcakes

East_H said...

This is awesome news. So glad the owners of Cafe Roma are opening back up.

Cupcakes are definitely a moneymaker and I can see us getting them from time to time, but I'm more excited about the other baked goods. If we could get some baguettes and espresso I'd be in heaven. Heck, if they offered bagels I'd be in there several times a week.

I know this location struggled a few years ago but the neighborhood has changed a lot in the last 1-2 years, so I'm optimistic.

MJ said...

I realize that the margins on cupcakes are better, but we need good baguettes. Badly. Catania's bread is OK for sammiches, but none of the DC supermarkets (except Whole Foods) have a halfway decent bakery and the quality of Atwater's (at the H st Farmer's Market) baguettes has gone down a bit.

NiggaWhat said...

Not to reignite the "Capitol Hill" debate, but 411 18th Street NE is a huge stretch. Especially when it's in a neighborhood that already has a name -- Rosedale.

Cap Conservative said...

We recently moved from the H Street area to Arlington but would be happy to drop by the old Cafe Roma. Great food and coffee.

RPW said...

This is great. I always wondered about that space. I look forward to checking it out. I'll also second that espresso would be a welcome addition as well.

Will they have any vegan options?

Anonymous said...

Loved Cafe Roma, but didn't they have some zoning issues with the cafe? Has that been resolved? So maybe baked goods are ok, but no coffee ? These are really nice people with a good product. I hope that they succeed.

E in Rosedale said...

I never got to go to the Old Cafe Roma, but I'd heard it was good. I used to live much closer to Jacob's Coffee and was missing that kind of establishment since moving east to Rosedale. If these guys can even marginally expand their menu to coffee and a few other staples, I'll be a regular.

Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

"...none of the DC supermarkets (except Whole Foods) have a halfway decent bakery..."

What supermarket anywhere has a decent bakery? Ukrops has decent pastries...Shoppers has that larger-than-life doughnut section...some of the chains have those diabetes-inducing sheet cakes...but I don't know any that have good bread.

"...quality of Atwater's (at the H st Farmer's Market) baguettes has gone down a bit..."

For whatever reason, the Atwaters at Dupont seems to have better goods.

Anonymous said...

"Will they have any vegan options?"

Dude, if they haven't got coffee, why in God's name would they already have vegan options? You guys are a bit low on the totem poll on the East Coast. The Left Coast is a whole different story...

MiCoBa said...

I am excited but would be super excited if it was called "Rosedale Cupcakes". Oh well.

E in Rosedale said...

Would have liked to see them embrace Rosedale, or even Kingman Park in the name too. But, I do get wanting to attach 'Capitol Hill' to the business somehow. I kind of see Rosedale and Kingman Park as part of greater Capitol Hill in the same way that Hill East is, or isn't. After all, the geographic 'hill' plateaus at 11th Street and gently slopes down to the river to the east.

andrew said...

The bread at Harris Teeter is passably Okay.

The simple fact is that this region has never been known for high-quality baked goods. You've got to go up to Philly or NYC for that.

The situation gets even more dire as you head further south. I'm happy to see some folks trying to challenge this status quo. Bring on the cake!

Anonymous said...

Am I reading this correctly? They open tomorrow?!

I guess I'm used to the 1-2 year lead time for places on H Street. Refreshing to have something open so quickly, or at least to not have the lead up hype machine go bananas.

Anonymous said...

The owners are Ethopian so they just might have a vegan option.

Anonymous said...

Checked this out over the weekend. The cupcakes are good, but I worry that cupcakes alone can't support a place like this. Maybe they are baking during the week for distribution?

I wish they would offer baguettes or bagels. That would get me in there once a week. I don't see buying cupcakes more than once every 2-3 months.

E in Rosedale said...

I dropped in as well. I bought two cupcakes (which were great) and they gave me a third for free. I think they are doing some distribution. Otherwise, there's no way they're going to make it on storefront cupcakes alone. I second hoping that they offer coffee and bagels again eventually.

BTW, they let me know that the new fence on the corner of 18th and D is for a daycare that's moving in.

Anonymous said...

Tiramasu, Sweet Potato, Carrot Cake, and Key Lime varieties are to die for.