Bob Amick and Todd Rushing, partners at Concentrics Restaurants, have parted ways with Jonathan St. Hilaire, pastry extraordinaire and founder of Bakeshop. St. Hilaire has had a long relationship with Amick and Rushing, having served as pastry chef at the now-defunct Trois.
I loved Bakeshop the first time I went, but it was a full-on pastry and dessert orgy for the media that day. I later took my wife Maria on her birthday, hoping to give her an insane amount of joy from all the sweets. Not only was the customer service incredibly underwhelming, there were only five desserts to choose from, as opposed to the 25 to 30 in the case on my first visit.
I don’t know what the future holds for Bakeshop, but here’s the scoop from the press release put out by Concentrics about the split:
Bob Amick and Todd Rushing, co-founders of Concentrics Restaurants, announce their decision to dissolve Concentrics’ partnership with Jonathan St. Hilaire and Bakeshop. Henceforth, St. Hilaire will operate Bakeshop under internal management.
St. Hilaire worked as the Executive Pastry Chef for all of Concentrics’ Restaurants until 2009, when he partnered with Concentrics in the opening of Bakeshop. The Midtown boulangerie and patisserie enjoyed immediate success upon its November debut, receiving favorable reviews from Creative Loafing, Atlanta Magazine, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We sincerely enjoyed working with Jonathan St. Hilaire and assisting in the success of Bakeshop,” states Bob Amick, owner of Concentrics Restaurants. “We were pleased to maintain a relationship with him for so many years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
