SEPTEMBER 24, 2013
FEATURE
Liberty Champion/B5 Breann Black | Liberty Champion
Gabriella Fuller gfuller2@liberty.edu
The friendly atmosphere of Father’s Table stood in stark contrast to the gloomy Lynchburg weather as I walked into the cafe on a rainy Saturday morning. Inside, head chef and owner Ken Reed greeted me and kindly invited me to help myself to the breakfast buffet and a cup of fresh coffee as he sat down to share his story and the history of his bakery. Located on 18396 Forest Road, Father’s Table is a locally owned and family-operated cafe and catering business. According to Ken Reed, owning the bakery fulfills a lifelong goal. Ken Reed attended culinary school in New York, and has more than 40 years of job experience. “I love what I do,” Ken Reed said. “It’s a happy, warm place. Good food, good conversation, good Christian music playing in the background.” Though not everyone who walks into Father’s Table is Christian, Ken Reed has made the bakery his mission field, showing the love of Christ to all who venture inside. “We want to present the gospel in a nonconfrontational way,” Ken Reed said. Customers will find scriptures interspersed throughout the bakery, and the name was even inspired by a devotional radio program. This is the third year that Father’s Table has been open for business. However, according to Ken Reed, success has not been without difficulties.
Emily Brown erbrown@liberty.edu
Although the shop seems simple at first sight, there is much more behind the desserts that fill the display cases of Chestnut Hill Bakery than just the baking process. The bakery has been providing sweet treats since 1968, but only recently did the shop come under the ownership of Richard and Glenda Hinkley, who purchased the store in April of 2011. In addition to their other jobs — Glenda Hinkley as a part-time teacher for Lynchburg City Schools and Richard Hinkley as chief of the Liberty University Police Department — the two also work to produce the desserts that are made daily from scratch. “(It) seems to be the standing joke that not too many bakeries are run by cops, but we have a blast with it,” Richard Hinkley said. As they took over Chestnut Hill, Richard and Glenda Hinkley wanted to keep the essence of the bakery the same, according to Richard Hinkley. They kept all the original desserts offered since 1968 and even had their distributor chemically match ingredients that had been discontinued. “It made no sense to change the recipes … because obviously, since 1968, the place obviously has done something,” Richard Hinkley said. But in addition to ensuring the same quality of products previously produced, Richard and Glen da Hinkley also brought some new desserts
Sophia Hahn shahn3@liberty.edu
As I stepped off the streets of Wyndhurst and into a cozy, family owned bakery I was welcomed by the aroma of homemade breads and desserts as well as a friendly atmosphere. Montana Plains Bakery, which is owned by Steve and Lucia Coates and their son, Joey Hertzberg, has been open for 16 years. “Through all of these years we have kind of evolved, done different things and maybe that is it,” Lucia Coates, who also serves as head chef, said. “We are just constantly evolving and doing new things to keep our customers satisfied and excited about coming into the bakery.” According to Steve Coates, when the bakery opened, they only made bread. Now they have expanded to cooking pies, cakes, sandwiches, soups and much more. “We use real ingredients,” Steve Coates said. “Real vanilla, it is not imitation. Real butter, there is no margarine here at all. No artificial flavors. It is all natural.” Montana Plains tries to purchase local products whenever they can, which helps to give the bakery its European-Southern blend style, Lucia Coates said. “I try not to be trendy, you know?” Lucia Coates said. “You want to keep current with what is going on in cooking and baking, but I feel like if you start
“We have the challenges of small business,” Ken Reed said. “It seems like the odds are against small businesses in this country, so we fight those odds every day.” Despite challenges, Ken Reed affirmed that the bakery has a faithful clientele and maintains a loyal following. “We let our customers do the judging,” Ken Reed said concerning the quality of the food. According to Ken Reed, the bakery’s best sellers are its doughnuts, particularly the maple bacon, which sell out by early morning. Ken Reed offered me what he considered a close runner up, coconut macaroon — a doughnut that could also take first place. Ken’s son Seth Reed is one of chefs at Father’s Table and a recent Liberty graduate. He took a moment of his free time from the kitchen to sit down and give his insight on the company. “I love working with Dad,” Seth Reed said. “We’ve always had a very strong relationship. He’s my best friend.” The Reeds begin looking at the production schedule at 3 a.m., filling catering orders and baking every item fresh from scratch. “Usually when he gets here he makes coffee, reads his Bible, then starts the day off,” Seth Reed said about his father, Ken Reed. Though days are long, generally 12-16 hours, Ken Reed is passionate about what he does. “I’ve learned the spiritual lesson that no matter how things look, we still need to just trust,” Ken Reed
to the bakery. According to Glenda Hinkley, the Hinkleys decided to expand their offerings to include not only the original cake flavor, but also several different flavors for specialty orders. Glenda Hinkley also began to offer more than 15 different flavors as cupcakes. In addition to the cupcakes, Chestnut Hill customers can choose from a variety of desserts, including several kinds of handmade pastries, cookies and doughnuts, by walking into the shop and placing call-ahead orders. The bakery does birthday orders as well. According to Glenda Hinkley, the bakery often fills orders from parents who live out of town and want to send their children at nearby colleges a cake or cupcakes. The staff delivers the order and will even include a handful of balloons if requested. “I used to literally say ‘Lord help me to be a blessing,’ because somebody’s birthday gets this,” Glenda Hinkley said. “… We just think, ‘Oh it’s a business, here’s a birthday cake.’ No, somebody’s having a celebration, and we get to be part of it. That’s the part I love.” Additionally, Chestnut Hill sells thousands of pies and packages of bread around big holidays. The bakery has also produced huge orders for businesses and organizations, including a 2,000-brownie order for a local business and a 6,000-cupcake order for Liberty’s 2013 graduation reception. Currently, Chestnut Hill provides 250-300 doughnuts each week to students who
being trendy and you don’t really stick with what you think is a good product, then you can run into the wrong.” Lucia Coates is always looking for new recipes, whether by making changes to existing ones or creating them from scratch. “Every baker bakes a little differently,” Lucia Coates said. “If you try to get them to do everything exactly the same, people have a harder time learning how to do that.” According to Steve Coates, Montana Plains is always focused on having quality products that their customers crave. “The key to a good bakery is that it has got to be fresh and you have to have a variety,” Steve Coates said. “That is a challenge when you are building. It has to naturally grow because you have to build clientele for each product.” I had the pleasure of tasting several items that the bakery is known for — a chicken salad sandwich on cottage cheese dill bread, two brioches, an éclair and Friday bread. Every bite of food that I had from Montana Plains was filled with delicious flavor and appreciation for fresh ingredients. Their bread was moist. Nothing was over salted, or overly sweet. The serving sizes were generous and well worth the cost. Everything was just right. According to, Steve Coates the bakery also has a big wedding cake business and is getting a vehicle license for catering deliveries. The owners are also
Gabriella Fuller | Liberty Champion
FRESH — The bakery is Ken Reed’s mission field. said. “Things can look bleak, but we have to realize where our resources are really coming from.” I left my interview with Ken and Seth Reed encouraged and well fed. The food is delicious and the mouthwatering pastries leave you promising to come back. More than just a destination for flavorful food, Father’s Table is an atmosphere of home away from home. It is unlikely that I will meet a more genuine family or more welcoming space than at Father’s Table. For more information, visit fatherscafeandcatering. com, and according to Ken Reed, customers who present this article in store will receive a buy one get one free doughnut.*
FULLER is the opinion editor.
Ruth Bibby | Liberty Champion
SWEET — The bakery has been open since 1968. participate in Gillville, Liberty’s fan campout prior to home football games. Overall, the Hinkleys see their business as an opportunity to touch others. “It’s just a bakery, but you know what? It’s something God’s given us to bless other people,” Glenda Hinkley said. Chestnut Hill Bakery is located at 5216 Fort Ave. and is open Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, 6 a.m.-3 p.m. According to the Hinkleys, guests can present a copy of this article for a free cupcake with the purchase of a cupcake.* BROWN is a copy editor.
Sara Warrender| Liberty Champion
DISPLAY — The bakery has been open for 16 years. making their shop more technology-friendly by adding Wi-Fi and making a webpage. “Nothing is going to be better than that childhood memory of that bakery, but what is great about it is, over time, kids and people think of us and our products as a bakery they have grown up with,” Steve Coates said. According to Steve Coates, customers can present this article for a free drink with the purchase of a sandwich.* HAHN is the news editor.
*Offer is limited to only one free item per person with the purchase of specified item. Each guest must present a separate copy of the article at time of checkout.