Meet Michka & Drew Hoffos of Nutmeg Bakery & Cafe in Sabre Springs and Scripps Ranch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michka and Drew Hoffos.

Michka and Drew, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Nutmeg began as a gluten-free-friendly bakery & café concept. Shirin’s always dreamt of having a bakery that offered her gluten-free, lower-sugar desserts. We settled on Sabre Springs because of the family-oriented atmosphere of the community. We began selling mostly pastries and some sandwiches, but over the years our menu has morphed into a full-scale breakfast/brunch/bakery and café.

We began offering espresso drinks and gained a loyal following of locals. Drew ran the savory side of the kitchen and began offering a more robust breakfast and brunch menu, sourcing local ingredients from many of the same farms as he did when he was working in his previous restaurant jobs. (Café Chloe, Market Del Mar, University Club, Sea Rocket Bistro).

We all decided that we would approach the food from the standpoint of offering only the amount of items we thought we could execute using our undersized kitchen. Soon we were changing the menu weekly and open seven days a week.

A stroke of good fate allowed us to expand to space next door and we remodeled our kitchen and service area. We tripled the number of seats and added an enclosed patio. From there we were able to begin offering a full-service dining experience along with traditional, gluten-free and vegan pastries. In addition to our full coffee bar.

In 2017 we were approached by several coffee shops and began wholesaling our pastries to other shops. In 2018 we were approached by a landlord in Scripps ranch asking us to consider opening in the Scripps Poway Parkway Center and we decided to say yes. We’re currently building out space and will be ready to open by the end of the year.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Labor – lack of cooks and bakers is a problem for most restaurants, but due to our location Nutmeg has always battled finding good cook and bakers.
Wholesale – The competition for wholesale bakery items is stiff and many other vendors offer products at a cheaper price point. We rely on our quality and scratch-made processes to differentiate us.
Expansion – building a restaurant is very expensive and we’re a family-owned business. Trying to find the capital to expand can be very tricky.

Please tell us about your business.
Nutmeg is and has always been family-owned and operated. That means that someone who is an owner is always in the building.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We recently opened our second location, in Scripps Ranch. We are looking forward to growing with the neighborhood, and meeting new customers that like to eat the way we do!

Contact Info:

• Address: Current Location:
  12640 Sabre Springs Pkwy.
  San Diego 92128New Location:
  10755 Scripps Poway Pkwy
  San Diego, 92131
• Website: http://www.nutmegsd.com/
• Phone: (858) 486.8863 (Sabre Springs) (858) 397-2922 Scripps Ranch)
• Email: hello@nutmegsd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutmegbakery/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/nutmegsandiego/
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/nutmeg-bakery-and-cafe-san-diego-2

Image Credit:
Jasmine Fitzwilliam
Let’s Frolic Together

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