When Janelle Thompson left her corporate finance career to open a bakery on Marcus Garvey Boulevard, her friends thought she was taking an enormous risk. Two years later, Sweet Uprising has earned a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Bakery — one of the youngest businesses ever shortlisted in the category.
"I cried when I got the call," Thompson admitted, standing behind the counter of her cheerful, yellow-walled shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant. "My grandmother taught me to bake in this very neighborhood. She'd be screaming right now." Thompson's menu draws on her family's Southern and Caribbean roots, featuring items like rum-soaked banana bread, sweet potato biscuits with cane syrup, and her famous brown butter chess pie.
The nomination has brought national attention, but locals say they've known about Sweet Uprising's magic since day one. "There was a line around the block on opening day and it hasn't really stopped," said regular customer Michael Osei, who drives from Crown Heights every Saturday for the coconut tarts. "Janelle bakes with her whole heart. You can taste it."
Thompson employs 11 full-time staff, all from the neighborhood, and runs a paid apprenticeship program for young people interested in pastry arts. She sources flour from a family mill upstate and butter from Hudson Valley dairies, keeping her supply chain local whenever possible.
Despite the buzz, Thompson is focused on staying rooted. "I'm not opening ten locations or chasing trends," she said. "I want to be the bakery that's been on this corner for 50 years. I want kids growing up in Bed-Stuy to remember the smell of this place." Sweet Uprising is open Wednesday through Sunday, 7 AM to 4 PM, or until they sell out — which, these days, happens earlier and earlier.