I’m a committed carnivore, but I couldn’t let this New York Times mention of a Babylon Village business. Moo-Cluck is a bakery here in the Village that makes allegedly tasty vegan treats.
[NY Times] Vegan Fare
One source for vegan sweets on Long Island is Moo-Cluck, a largely wholesale bakery in Babylon that sells to retail customers as well.
Moo-Cluck’s baker, Micheline Cummings, 36, had been running a nonvegan custom bake shop, Madame Butterfly Cakes, with her partner, Terry Haughey. But both are vegans, so, Ms. Cummings said, “I started developing the vegan recipes just for me.”
But soon, others were asking for her egg- and dairy-free items, like “un-cheesecake,” chocolate cake and cupcakes. So Moo-Cluck was born in 2005. Relatives of Ms. Cummings who viewed veganism with a certain suspicion initially resisted her desserts, she said. But times change: She and Mr. Haughey took a box of several dozen Moo-Cluck cookies to a family Christmas party of 30 people last year, intending it for a vegan relative.
The vegan arrived too late to enjoy the gift. Half an hour after Ms. Cummings brought them into the house, the cookies were gone, she said. “All the nonvegans ate them.”
Well, Crumbs can get away with $4.50 a pop for effing cupcakes for crying out loud, so I guess there’s room for all kinds in the marketplace. To quote a recurring meme: “What recession?”
On the other hand, last year’s Gourmet Popcorn store (5th Ave with outpost on 34th St.) are now vacant – day-old trout to the Plebes.
When all you’ve got to sell is hype and novelty (on top of a cupcake), I just hope the business model isn’t based on 20-year capital amortization.