By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
She was an Art School dropout. And now Kate Nycz is making your breakfast.
The 39-year-old Pennsylvania native enrolled at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, but not for long.
“I was really interested in Fashion Design,” she told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. But it was not enough for her to remain a student there.
Baking won out. “I’ve been baking for close to 13 years,” said the owner of North South Baking Company, 39 W. Pike Street, Covington.
Nycz said she moved here some eight years ago to start a business. “I was running other people’s businesses,” she said, “And I wanted to do something for my future. I visited Cincinnati, in February of 2017, and saw potential.”
What she saw was local food, local beer and Farmer’s Markets. And no croissants.
“It was just the right time for something that was not going on in this region.”
So, she started her baking in her home – then moved to the Incubator Kitchen Collective, a non-profit organization – in Newport – that provides a hand up and a push forward for food entrepreneurs in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. They offer a framework of support that helps food start-ups overcome the unique barriers in the food industry.
It worked.
Nycz now employs a staff of some 12-14 – some full and part-time workers – with a full kitchen for baking on the second floor of her shop.
“All of our goods – sour dough breads and pastries are baked right here,” she says. “And that includes breakfast pastries and sandwiches.”
Pastries, she says, are her biggest and best sellers.
How about the cruffin. Huh? Sometimes spelled croffin. And according to Google, it’s a hybrid of croissant and a muffin.
“We did it here at North South Baking before it really caught on in the area,” Nycz said.
The pastry is made by proofing – also called proving – and baking laminated dough in a muffin mold. The cruffin is then filled with a variety of creams, jams, crème patisseries or curds, and then garnished.
All done at 39 W. Pike Street.
If you’re interested, the first known Cruffin – sorry Kate – was to be created by another Kate. Kate Reid of Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne, Australia in 2013.
“Cruffins,” Nycz said, “Are made from the same type of croissant dough, but they’re baked in a muffin tin and coated with cinnamon sugar, creating a tasty treat.
“They’re light and fluffy,” Nycz said, “and my favorite.”
North and South Baking Company prides itself on local products. Their Blueberry Cheese Danish – made year-round – is filled with local blueberries –as their Blueberry pies. “It’s a signature dish here,” Nycz said.
So are their sour dough breads.
“All flour is regionally grown grain,” she said. “That’s important to me. And we have eight different kinds of bread.”
But why baking and not Fashion, Kate?
“Food was just like science for me,” she said, “and I loved science and math in high school.”
When she’s not baking at North South, Kate Nycz is selling her goods every Sunday at the Hyde Park Farmer’s Market.
She works six days a week, but it’s a love affair for her. And for those that eat those cruffins.
North South Baking Company is closed Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday through Friday hours are 7-2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to noon.