Buttery Baking House
Claudia Glazier has been baking since she was 18 and at 50, she’s the owner of Buttery Baking House, Old Towne Petersburg’s newest “modern bakery specializing in small batches of Viennoiserie laminated dough”. Buttery Baking House offers sweet and savory pastries, breads, cookies and everything is made in house and from scratch.
Glazier grew up in El Salvador and learned everything she knows from her mother, a self made baker and chef, and other bakers who worked in her mother’s bakery. She moved to Delaware in 2003 and eventually attended the French Culinary Institute in New York for pastry and baking and graduated from a bread making program at the King Arthur Baking Company in Vermont.
“Little by little, I’ve been very fortunate to work with the people that I have been working with, learning a lot, [I] always keep myself, trying to find a place where I can bake so I … believe that is what is helping me,” Glazier said. “The practice, practice, practice gets you to a certain point and you feel more secure about the understanding you have [about] baking.”
After moving to Virginia and being unable to find a baking job, Glazier worked at Dixie Restaurant (where she learned about the Petersburg area) and then Good Foods Grocery (baker in the deli). Around this time, Glazier and her husband were building a home and both working full-time, so all their free time was spent working on the house. As this was a trying time for the couple and she’d been hearing and curious about Williamsburg, they decided to attend the farmers market and she fell in love.
Glazier said the experience was awesome and the market was bigger than ones she previously attended in Delaware. She spotted Amy Hicks (Amy’s Organic Gardening), who she said looked happy to be there, and named her as a source of inspiration.
“It gave me the whole picture and it’s what attracted me to that idea, ‘This is what I can do, I can do this, I can work in my house and come to the farmers market to sell my baking’,” Glazier said. “Everything started from [Amy], she literally inspired me and ever since I had the chance to meet her, she’s always been supportive of my business.”
Glazier started baking out of her home and sold her treats at the Williamsburg farmers market on Saturdays. When she decided to look for places to move her kitchen, she wasn’t thinking about having a storefront because it’s lot of work, however she said her landlord was supportive and she wouldn’t be there without him.
Buttery Baking House opened in July and opening weekend turned out to be more than Glazier thought it would be. She was unsure of how many customers to expect, came up with a number and hoped for the best. On their first opening Saturday, they sold out in three hours (and had to start baking pastries that could be baked the same day to add to everything) and the following day they expected to be calmer produced the same results.
“I was about to cry, I felt so emotional. The people … are so happy, they’re telling you how thankful they are about [having] the bakery here and it truly humbles me, like thinking about … [how] we found a good home for the bakery. There was a couple who [came from] Richmond and saw [Buttery Baking House] on Facebook,” Glazier said, “and it just gave me chills to think about how these people planned their day – they have to get up early, dress up, on a Sunday – so all these things make me humble and makes me want to do better, to somehow give it back.”
Buttery Baking House specializes in breakfast and Glazier recommends one savory (everything croissant) and one sweet (sweet cheese and raspberry jam croissant) treat to new customers. She still goes to the Williamsburg farmers market as she has loyal customers, and she’s grateful to the Petersburg community, who she wants to establish a relationship with to provide them with what they need or learn what can be improved.
Glazier credits her husband and family for helping her to get to the first stage of business, and motivating her to do her best like she always tries to do. She said they understand what customers are looking for now, and people wanting good and clean baking is what they’re trying to communicate to the community.
Though Glazier thought opening the business and everything that came with it was a challenge, the rewarding part for her is seeing pastries come out of the oven.
“When it comes [out] so beautiful, you know people are going to be happy, we’re gonna make people happy because this is good, and whenever it doesn’t come out good, we don’t sell because if I’m not gonna eat it myself, I’m not selling it to you,” Glazier said. “Then … when the customer comes and sees the product and tastes, … to see them happy [and] appreciate what they’re eating and liking what they’re eating or what we presented to them, that is the most rewarding part of everything.”
Buttery Baking House is located at 28 W Old St. Petersburg, VA 23803 and open Saturdays and Sundays 7 am – 1 pm. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
