ST. LANDRY PARISH — Nancy Brewer traces her love of baking back to her childhood days on a rice farm, surrounded by towering live oaks and the warmth of her grandparents' home.
“Home was always my grandparents’ house. They had a rice farm and beautiful live oaks everywhere, and my grandmother was like the best baker ever,” Brewer said.From a young age, she found herself drawn to the kitchen, captivated by the simple magic of her grandmother’s sweet dough pies.
“When I was as young as four or five years old she would let me help with the sweet dough pies, and I really felt like she was doing magic,” she said.
That early spark eventually led her to pursue a culinary education in New York. Brewer enrolled in culinary school and landed a job at the acclaimed River Cafe. But despite the prestige, the experience left her unfulfilled.
“Everybody was really great to me in there, but it was just like… I just found it exhausting and not pleasurable the way I had thought,” Brewer recalled.
She had once dreamed of opening a bakery of her own but considered it more of a pipe dream than a realistic path. Everything changed one day when she tasted a familiar dessert that instantly transported her back to Louisiana.
“I was transported when I ate it, and I thought to myself — you know, all this money, all these fancy desserts, and nothing makes me as happy as this sweet dough pie,” she said.
That realization inspired Brewer and her husband to come back to Louisiana. Just months after returning, a casual favor for friends sparked an unexpected business venture.
“Four months after my husband and I moved here, my friends asked me to come watch their shop while they were at market… and it was very slow — it was a January. I started baking in there ‘cause I needed something to do and I started selling it. Then I started making a menu, and I was like, oh my God, this is what I said, like ya know!” she said.
That pop-up evolved into The Kitchen Shop, a cozy bakery in Grand Coteau. Her family rallied around her as the business began to grow—especially her mother, who remained involved even while undergoing radiation treatment.
“We would get up and take her to her appointment at like 5 or 6 in the morning ‘cause she wanted to be here. She didn’t want to miss any work the whole time she was having that done,” Brewer said.
Her mother stayed active in the shop until her passing, offering steady support for a dream that Brewer once saw as out of reach. Brewer says baking has always meant something deeper than just recipes and ingredients.
When asked, “What do you think it is about baking that has such a spark for you?” Brewer replied:
“Is there any food that you eat that makes you really happy? … Well, that’s it. It’s like a way of showing love. And I just knew that I wanted to take part in that.”
