When someone with Angela Pinkerton’s culinary credentials and coast-to-coast fan base wanders into a small city like Kingston and opens a bakery, people notice. And they dig right into everything she’s making—from boozy tiramisu and mud pie crowned with puffy coffee-infused whipped cream to carrot cake delicately flavored with pineapple and coconut.
That sums up the short history of Pinkerton’s, a bakery and café helmed by the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef. Since its debut late last year, Pinkerton’s is tempting locals with opulent pastries, sweet and savory pies, turnovers, Danish, and cakes and cookies—all with a hint of sophistication and an unexpected twist.
“You really have to taste our product to recognize what sets us apart. It’s very bright, flavorful, and fresh.”
“I like to take things and jazz them up,” says Pinkerton, the former executive pastry chef at the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, where she earned her Beard award in 2011. “When I worked in fine dining, the meals were 10 to 17 courses long, so as the pastry chef, I got the last three or four courses. It was my job to keep your palate interested. And it still is.”
The founder of the much-loved Pie Society bakeshop and the acclaimed Che Fico restaurant, both in California’s Bay Area, Pinkerton says she’s thrilled to settle into her new digs, the site of the longtime Cake Box at 8 Fair Street. The art deco building that started as a Gulf service station in the 1920s captivated Pinkerton’s sensibilities.
“It’s quirky. I like quirky. I am quirky,” she says. “The building is iconic for the city. It’s been such a cornerstone of Kingston, and we’re doing our best to bring new life to it,” she adds, referencing plans to refurbish the exterior with its bold turquoise trim. “We’d like to remove the paint to expose the enameled panels and bring the building back to its original look. It’s fun and kitschy and a nice bright spot,” Pinkerton notes.
For the moment, though, she is focused on building her menu beyond pastries and cakes. The bakery, with seating for 16, recently introduced a breakfast sandwich on a house-made English muffin, along with ginger scones, chocolate croissants, pot pies, quiches, and a cranberry and concord grape hand pie, which Pinkerton likens to a turnover.
Fresh, quality ingredients, according to Pinkerton, are paramount to good baking, so she sources produce from Rose Hill and Migliorelli Farms in Dutchess County and works with Hudson Harvest to pinpoint the best products from local farms.
The bakery has operated on a Thursday through Monday schedule but is expected to expand hours in the coming months. In the meantime, Pinkerton has enjoyed meeting her new neighbors and introducing her brand of nostalgic desserts to those craving a little more sophistication.
“We’ve been received extremely well. It’s just blown our minds how lovely everybody is,” she says. “Now that we’re settled, we’re in it to win it, as far as being part of the community. We invite everyone to give us a try. You really have to taste our product to recognize what sets us apart. It’s very bright, flavorful, and fresh.”
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