St. Louis, MO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/04/2016 --Companion's long awaited relocation of its headquarters is officially open. After spending 23 years in South St. Louis, Companion moved into a 41,000 square foot building located at 2331 Schuetz Road in Maryland Heights. The facility sits on 4.5 acres dubbed as the "Companion Campus". Josh Allen, founder and owner said "we are super excited about this next chapter for Companion". "Our campus houses the bread baking operations, a state of the art baking school, private event space and our third cafe, which opens today!"
The 70-seat cafe serves breakfast and lunch and has a full service coffee bar with retail to-go. Cafe hours are Monday-Friday, 6am-3pm and Saturday-Sunday from 7am-3pm. The "Early Bird Outlet", a neighborhood favorite and cornerstone of the South St. Louis operation, is also going to be a big part of the West STL Cafe. Traditional and specialty breads are sold by the pound and will feature other baked goods, sweets and merchandise 7 days a week - available only at the West STL Outlet.
The Teaching School is set to open late April. Chef Cassy Vires has been hired to head up the school which features a combination of baking and cooking classes. Classes will be scheduled five days/nights a week with curriculum for the serious home baker, professionals, kids and families. "Cassy brings an incredible level of professionalism along with an easy, approachable demeanor – exactly the kind of culinary talent we wanted to find to lead our Teaching Kitchen," Allen said. "She joins a team that already includes nationally acclaimed chef, Josh Galliano, and culinary instructors Price Barrett and George Guthier."
About Companion
Josh Allen started Companion in 1993 at the age of 24 with a clear vision: create wholesome and delicious European breads with simple ingredients. 23 years later, Companion has stayed true to its sustainable business model by focusing on what Allen refers to as the 4C's – companions, customers, community and company.
- Companion operates three cafes – the Ladue Cafe, Clayton Cafe and West STL Cafe.
- Companion was awarded the "Industry Leadership Award" by Modern Baking Magazine, and recognized by USA Today as one of the top "10 Great Places for Artisan Bread" in the US.
Other Companion accolades from St. Louis' publications have been:
- Best Bread, Favorite Bakery, Best Cafe, FEAST Top-50, Best Bagels and more.
- Customers can find Companion products in grocery stores, neighborhood restaurants or one of their signature cafes.
For more information visit CompanionBaking.com