From a home kitchen to a thoughtfully designed commissary, it’s a space that balances baking, creativity, and rest.
Trisha Lacson’s baked goods at 50 & Co. Bakery have come a long way from her pop-ups in Oakland and around the Bay Area in California. She built her cult following selling buttery and cheesy ensaymadas and the softest, most indulgent cookies out of her home kitchen.
Related story: How design influences what we feel, do, and remember
Related story: Handcrafted for the world: Why the Philippines returns to Ambiente every year
Many home bakers would know this situation well: stacked boxes all over your dining table waiting to be filled with goods, sacks of ingredients in your living room, and your doorbell ringing nonstop as riders come pick up orders.
“There was really no separation between work and your personal life and your family life. There were no boundaries,” she recalls. “Our house was packed with boxes, ribbons and stacks of cornflakes. You couldn’t move around. I have boys and they couldn’t invite friends over because it was so chaotic. There were hundreds of boxes on our dining table. That’s when I thought, this isn’t a hobby anymore. We have a brand here.”
This setup also affected the time she could have spent for herself and her family. “I’m a people pleaser. When somebody messages me at 6 pm and says, ‘I need a cake at 9pm,’ I will stand up and do the cake,” she quips.
Lacson figured it was time to finally build a commissary. She worked with interior decorator Carol Karthe whom she hit it off with at one pop-up she did at Sta. Elena. “We became friends before working together so we knew each other’s styles,” Lacson adds.
Working with someone who shares your values and understands your lifestyle is key. Karthe, known for her layered and textured interiors, wanted to rewrite the rules of what a commissary should look. The 100-square-meter space along Jupiter St. in Makati used to be a small Japanese restaurant with an open terrace. “When we saw the space, I asked Trisha, ‘are you sure you just want a kitchen? Don’t you think you’d want a place to hang out after work or while waiting for the dough to rise?’” Karthe remembers.
Karthe turned the old restaurant into a spacious commissary with an unexpected hot pink chandelier in the center. She enclosed the former terrace and turned it into a personal lounge area that can look like a cozy living room. A broken-in leather couch is flanked by pieces from House of O—a bench wrapped in a vintage rainbow-striped Moroccan blanket and a sculptural mid-century chair upholstered in black and white cowhide. An Ito Kish candelabra adds vertical interest in one corner, while the surface of a petrified tree acts as a coffee table holding an intricate arrangement of banana blossoms by Pierre Capati. Beneath it is a heavy white crystal from Madagascar to maintain good energy throughout the day.
This space can be fully closed by a glass door so that while Lacson is using the room, she can keep an eye on the kitchen. The space also helps her attend to work even on harder days. “I have systemic lupus, so there are days that I am tired and I struggle. So on those days that aren’t so good for me, I still can come in. I’m not pressured to stand up and work as opposed to other places because there’s really a place here where I can relax,” she says.
Having a larger kitchen and the space for proper equipment will also allow her creativity to grow. You should start seeing French macarons, croissants and Kouign-amanns soon on her menu. “At night when everyone’s done and I’m here, I look at my recipes and I try to improve them. I’ll try again and again to get it right. I can stay here until 2 am and nobody’s going to really bother you. There are nights when I’m here and my husband has a beer while I work out some recipes,” she adds.
Related story: Maybe it’s time to rethink how we rest, work, and live in one space
Related story: How Pantone color of the year Cloud Dancer can refresh your space
Formerly known as 50 Shades of Dough, her new name 50 & Co. Bakery is revealed with a new logo designed by Dan Matutina. A submark of the logo features an ampersand made up of different sizes of dots which represents balls of dough. The new name also highlights the importance of her staff. “They are the ‘Co.’ in this whole thing. Without them I wouldn’t be here.”
This space symbolizes 50 & Co. Bakery’s sweet upward trajectory also underscores the importance of balance and boundaries, knowing when to grind and knowing when to rest just like the dough waiting to rise.
