Black Magic Bakehouse, officially opened by Deanne Veliky, is sure to give you a homey, winter vibe with its beautiful outdoor and indoor seating options, as well as its fun decorations. The shop is located on 19 W Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, and is filled with plants and cozy farmhouse wood furnishings. This adds to the mood and makes you feel comfortable, while you get to sit back, relax and enjoy your food. Before she opened the shop in 2023, she did pop-up shops. The bakery has become very popular over the past year, with lines out the door full of people waiting to get some delicious pastries. The bakery is always crowded, and people especially love the donuts.
Veliky’s inspiration to create a bakery came from her love for baking from a young age. “I grew up baking,” Veiliky says. She also went to the Institute Of Culinary Education for pastries, and proceeded to work in many bakeries before opening her own brick and mortar store. After careful consideration, Veliky decides what her objective is for the bakery. “I’m just gonna focus on donuts.” She says.
Many of Deanne’s items are made with a sourdough base, which is a unique twist on your usual baked goods. Some foods that are sourdough are the donuts, which is rare to find elsewhere. “Anything that’s yeasted is sourdough based, there’s no commercial yeast,” she says when talking about her pastries. Some of her donuts are filled with interesting flavors like creme brulee or lemon cream. Deanne’s shop has an abundance of donuts and other goods to choose from.
When deciding her menu for the month, she’ll add items she’s craving or if she sees something inspiring, she might include that too. “I change the menu almost every month and we’ll usually add things.” Veliky says. The menu has some seasonal flavors, like lots of pumpkin options in the fall.
Since she has been in Ridgewood, she has had many different experiences with her clients. “Everyone has been really positive,” Veliky says. The Ridgewood locals are very kind and supportive of the new bakery. Part of the funding for Black Magic was acquired through a Kickstarter campaign which allows people to invest in a business before it is fully formed. Veliky expands on the Kickstarter campaign, and how it helped her grow her business. “It was launched last year, and was a way to get funding to open a business. It was just a way for people who were already followers to help.” Through this process she was able to secure enough funding to open her store. When asked if she planned on expanding the business, she said that there were no plans for that at this time.
As far as the work environment goes, it’s super fun and exciting. However, the reason why she is only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday is because it’s extremely hard work, and the most manageable thing for her is the current situation. Just because she doesn’t work everyday, doesn’t mean she isn’t at the bakery 24/7. Working and preparing for the open days is a hard task, especially when you work with pastries. She also doesn’t want to make baking her whole personality, although she still loves to bake. “Just because we’re closed those 3 days, I’m going in right after this to mix all my dough for the week.” Veliky says. It’s hard to work in a bakery, but it’s worth it when you see the satisfaction of viewing the final product and the joy it brings to the customers.
If you are in the mood for a magical pastry experience head on down to the bakery to find out for yourself what the fuss is all about.
