By Susannah Black
“Food is really important to me,” says Dawn Hart, a baker and decorator of gourmet desserts. After running a small baking business, Monster Cookie Company, out of her kitchen for nearly seven years, Hart now plans to expand her business and open Village Sweet Bakery in Arlington by the beginning of March.
Choosing the name because Hart and her husband love Greenwich Village, Hart brought her love of quaint shops to Virginia: “the term village just really fits the North Arlington community … I want to be that sweet shop in the village.”
Village Sweet Bakery will serve a variety of baked goods including cookies, cupcakes, cakes, doughnuts, granola and scones. “I care about having a really great product that tastes good,” says Hart. Hart’s favorite item is the chocolate cupcake with almond butter cream. “It was my birthday cake growing up … my mom made it every year.” Similarly, the sugar cookie is her grandmother’s recipe. In connection with her home-baking roots, Hart will not add fillers or preservatives to her desserts.
Hart’s dedication to good-quality baked goods also reveals itself in her passion for health. “I’m doing a healthy-for-you twist … like baked donuts,” says Hart, “there is some component in everything I make that is good for you.” Hart plans to have seasonal granola on her menu, adapting her recipes to include whatever is growing during the season: pumpkin in the fall, blueberries and other fresh berries in springtime, cranberries in the winter and lighter ingredients during the summer. Hart also plans to source the organic dairy she will use in her recipes from an area creamery.
There will also be gluten-free, vegan and allergy-conscious baked goods: “My goal,” says Hart, “is to try to get people to think about what they’re eating and they’ll be eating the best thing that I can give them.”
Hart hopes to eventually open another Village Sweet in D.C. after she settles in Arlington. “In my mind, I want people to appreciate the food that’s going in their bodies … Then your body will start to take care of itself. Maybe this is a start.” / Village Sweet Bakery, 5872 Washington Blvd., Arlington
*This post has been updated. An earlier version stated the bakery would open in January.
