Three Local Businesses Will Team Up at Monumental Market in Jamaica Plain

(L to R) Tipping Cow co-owners David Lindsey and Gerly Adrien, El Colombiano Coffee owner Javier Amador-Peña, and Lavender Bee baker Kelsey Munger inside their new store. / Photo provided by Lavender Bee

When Monumental Cupcakes owner Patti Hudson closed her Jamaica Plain cupcake shop earlier this year, she promised something “monumental” in its place, per the signs on the papered-up windows. That is indeed true: An innovative, nut-free, bakery and café (with ice cream) called Monumental Market is opening there this spring from three established, Boston-area wholesale companies—Lavender Bee Baking Co., Tipping Cow Ice Cream, and El Colombiano Coffee.

“It’s a joint venture to give us all a space to grow and expand our own business, but because rent is so expensive [throughout the city], it’s a way of doing that together,” says Lavender Bee founder Kelsey Munger.

Monumental Market will function like a typical bakery-café: There will be one, central point-of-sale system where guests will order whatever they want, whether it’s a cup of coffee to go; a custom cake for a party; or a cappuccino, an apple-honey fig tart from Lavender Bee, and a scoop or two of Tipping Cow’s gourmet ice cream flavors to eat in the store. (There will be a few seats inside, but the small space won’t be conducive to working from home, Munger says.)

All three brands happen to make exclusively nut-free products, so it’ll be a safe choice for people with those allergy concerns. Munger, who launched the farmers’ market pop-up Lavender Bee just over a year ago out of her then-workplace, Brookline Grown, has a peanut allergy herself. When Brookline Grown shuttered, she baked out of the Stoneham shared kitchen Food Revolution, which was accommodating to allergy safety concerns, she says, but it wasn’t exclusively nut-free. “I want to be able say my products are manufactured in nut-free facility.”

Munger has been connected with Tipping Cow owners David Lindsey and Gerly Adrien for a while; their Somerville shop carries Lavender Bee’s packaged products, and she knew they were also looking to expand. Munger is also close with El Colombiano founder Javier Amador-Peña, whose coffee roasts were sold at Brookline Grown. He was a fellow Brookline Farmers Market vendor this past year, and he put the former Monumental Cupcakes location on the trio’s radar. The sale was “serendipitous,” Munger says, and the new owners got the keys around Monumental Cupcakes’ last day of business in late January.

The storefront overlooks JP’s landmark Civil War monument. The new owners decided to keep the “Monumental” name as a nod to the near-decade of vibrancy Hudson brought to Monument Square with her cake shop, Munger says.

“We totally understand and appreciate not just the customer following, but the family that she created,” she says. “We’re putting our own twist on [Monumental] with three awesome businesses in there. We want to keep JP funky and vibrant, and use the space for the community to hold art shows, pop-ups, and other cool events. We want to make sure the market itself is almost like a farmers’ market, but permanent.”

As for the place’s distinctive, lavender paint job? Obviously, the Lavender Bee owner would love to keep it, Munger says, but “my team might have other ideas about a more uniform look.” They have hired a contractor, and plan to start renovations imminently. Monumental Market launched a $30,000 crowd-funding campaign to help raise some additional funds ahead of an anticipated spring 2019 opening. To stay in the loop on the new venture, follow Lavender Bee Baking Co., Tipping Cow Ice Cream, and El Colombiano Coffee.

Monumental Market, coming spring 2019 to 36 South St., Jamaica Plain.

Lavender Bee Baking Co. tart photo by Tina Picz (@bostonfoodphoto) / El Colobiano Coffee and Tipping Cow ice cream pints photos provided

Monumental Market is headed for the former Monumental Cupcakes space in JP. / Photo provided by Lavender Bee