Please, one of OTR's hip dining destinations (with one of the city's most instagrammable bathrooms), was name-dropped in national foodie magazine Bon Appétit. And for good reason: They spotlighted the restaurant’s female-fronted summer bake sales series.
The concept of a bake sale is simplistic and DIY in its roots; traditionally, people spread an array of pastries and other sweets over a table and sell them, usually to raise funds for a good cause. Please chef Ryan Santos has been doling out extra treats this summer with his pop-up Sunday bakes sales, hosted by some of the finest female pastry chefs in the country. All are complemented by featured wines, exclusively from female winemakers.
Bon Appétit highlighted the modern bake sale through the view of Natasha Pickowicz, a pastry chef in New York City. After the 2016 election, like many others, she looked for a way to give back. She found what she was looking for in the age-old bake sale. With her team at Cafe Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar, they raised funds for the Manhattan branch of Planned Parenthood.
The sale was announced via Instagram and they ended up raising over $8,000 within the hour. Then came round two: This time they made more treats and sold some booze, too, and raised $22,000.
As for Over-the-Rhine’s Please, Santos first started the bake sales to celebrate female chefs. The series kicked off on May 20 with Stella Parks, a Lexington, Ky.-based editor for Serious Eats and food writer whose book,BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts made it on theNew York Times bestseller list. The series ended on Aug. 5 with Anna Posey, the artist-chef who recently opened Elske in Chicago’s West Loop with her husband, David.*
The local bake sales have been a success and will kick-off again next year.
Santos told Bon Appetit that “these initial bake sales were a bit of an experiment, but next season we want to let the women choose a charity of her choice.” He added that they continue to strive “to create a dialogue and expand opportunities for the underserved in our complex world of hospitality.
Please is located at 1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine. More info: pleasecincinnati.com.
*A former version of this story listed an upcoming September event that is no longer happening
