Goddess and The Baker Brings Us A Café with Character

Restaurant:  Goddess and The Baker

Address: 340 High St, Brookfield, WI 53045

Phone number: (262) 505-6560

Hours:

Monday – Saturday: 8am – 7pm

Sunday: 8am – 5pm

Cuisine type: American.

Elevated café that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Menu offers a wide variety of coffee, baked goods, soups, salads, and sandwiches.  

Price per entrée: $$

Attire: CASUAL

Reservations: NO

Payment: CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED // CASH NOT ACCEPTED

As an avid lover of cafes and coffee shops, I make it a goal of mine to visit new places that fall within this lane. I am a visual person – always drawing inspiration from the spaces around me and the character they radiate. As one can probably guess, the first thing I notice when trying a new restaurant is the setting. What is the color palette? How does it make me feel? Is there a certain aesthetic that lends a sense of home to the guests? These are the kinds of questions I ask myself and after my experience with Goddess and The Baker I can confidently say I found another (not so hidden) gem.

Located in the Corners of Brookfield. Goddess and The Baker is a modern-day gourmet eatery that serves an extensive range of food. From breakfast to handmade sandwiches and salads to scrumptious baked goods, their café welcomes your heart (and stomach) with everything it desires.

Goddess and The Baker is a Chicago-based café concept making Brookfield the first out-of-state location to come about. Being a Chicago native myself, I passed this café quite a lot but never found the time to step inside and give it try. When my family transferred to Milwaukee, I was introduced to a different angle of the city lifestyle – smaller, yet still lots to explore. We don’t find ourselves in the Brookfield area all too often, but I am glad we stumbled upon this location during one of our visits. Restaurant owner Debbie Sharpe kickstarted her career in concert catering and interestingly enough, after touring with Paul McCartney, she settled in Chicago where her idea to open a part-grocery store, part-restaurant came to life. Known as Goddess and The Grocer, Sharpe utilized her creative platform to bring gourmet pantry items into the lives of her customers which became a hit from the very start. Goddess and The Baker, as we know it today, became a spin-off concept from her 2004 development and now, the little empire has seven location as well as its own catering division.

The interior of The Corners location is what caught my eye as the restaurant embodies modern details with mid-century style and décor. Large windows warp around the perimeter giving the space a chance to form relationships with the natural light. The café offers both indoor and outdoor eating, perfect for those summer occasions but incredibly welcoming during fall and winter seasons when you seek a homier environment. Vibrant pops of blue trace the walls as white brick accents the backdrop of their kitchen. The layout of the space is well crafted and it’s hard not to feel content with every bite.

Speaking of bites… I am sure you’ve been wondering how is the food?!? As I briefly mentioned, the menu is quite versatile making it friendly to anyone who dines there. Seeing as they have a creative coffee selection, I think it’s only fair I start with beverages.

Being a coffee shop fanatic, you would think caffeine runs in my bloodstream, however, I don’t drink it all that often. For the times that I do, I can be quite the critic. I should also note that I am the type of person who can only drink it iced because I have convinced myself it tastes better that way. With that said, Goddess and The Baker includes a rotating selection of coffee and they are extremely flexible when it comes to accommodating your order. My favorite part would have to be their specialty drink menu which offers items such as a Glitter Gold Latte, Black Honey Almond Matcha Latte, and Goddess Sweet Cream Cold Brew. I have made it a habit of mine to order the Iced Mocha Latte with Almond Milk and it already has me hooked. The best part? (Yes, there’s more) they serve it in a glass cup with paper straws and offer to go cups if you don’t finish while you’re there. I appreciate the sustainable efforts utilized and I think it adds to the modern, chic aesthetic they have.

I am a vegetarian so one of the first sections of any menu I gravitate towards is salads. I was excited when I saw Goddess and The Baker offers an extensive selection of handmade salads that can be modified to your liking. I was torn between quite a few but decided on the Southwest which includes a blend of crisp romaine lettuce, black beans, tomato, corn, red bell pepper, chihuahua cheese (form of white cheese), tortilla strips, and drizzled with chipotle buttermilk dressing. It has a little bit of a kick to it, but the flavors aren’t too overwhelming. I enjoyed it and as you can see from the picture, the portions are a decent size and there is always the option to take home whatever you don’t finish! If southwestern style salads aren’t your cup of tea, there are plenty more options that sound amazing such as the Quinoa and Arugula or Super Seed Avocado to name a few.

I simply cannot rant about a gourmet café and not include one of the breakfast items… I mean come on, that just wouldn’t be right. Believe me, I have a sweet tooth and there is nothing I love more than devouring a stack of pancakes or waffles when I treat myself to breakfast outside of my own kitchen. BUT I am a sucker for avocado toast so when I saw it on their menu a part of me felt obligated to give it a try. I am glad I did because it was delightful – an elevated version of your traditional avocado toast as it was served on a thick slice of sourdough bread with smashed avocado, lemon, sliced radishes, sprinkled with cheese and a bed of fresh arugula. If you’re not the biggest fan of arugula I would suggest getting this without because as you can see from the picture, they really pile it on. I happened to enjoy this twist on a signature dish, so I was happy with it, but it’s important to know if a restaurant is willing to work with you on modifying dishes that aren’t to your full satisfaction level. Goddess and The Baker certainly is willing to listen if you want changes made. I especially enjoyed how light this dish was, the lemon vinaigrette they toss the arugula in makes it a winner.

Although I don’t have any photos of the baked goods, I have tried their chocolate chip banana bread which is absolutely delicious. It’s such a classic item to accompany your coffee or tea in the morning and you can’t go wrong here. Their bakery assortment also includes variations of cakes, cookies, breads, and brownies. It would be difficult to leave empty handed, especially if you’re a sweet tooth at heart.

One could say there are plenty of coffee/café shops out there that offer up some competition in the face of Goddess and The Baker. A couple that come to mind for me are Argo Tea (a Chicago classic) or Fairgrounds Coffee and Tea (New to Milwaukee). I think competition can be a good thing and there are so many different approaches a café can take which allows each one to accentuate a new kind of experience. The décor in each of these café’s is unique and pleasing to the eye, but I think Goddess and The Baker does a nice job with their coffee station. It sticks out in my mind because of how it’s centered in their space and they offer such creative drink options.

As with any restaurant, customers are going to walk away with certain impression, and it has everything to do with the food, service, and environment – the overall package that comes with dining out. Since my first visit, I have been back numerous times and I am always greeted in a welcoming way from the staff. The first time I went was with my younger sister and the second time was with my mom to show her how much she would enjoy it. Unfortunately, the experience with my mom didn’t play out as smoothly because they forgot to deliver her drink and by the time they got around to serving it we were already done with our meal. To make up for that lost time the manager did offer us a free bakery item and they gave my mom a fresh drink to go. It was handled really well and made our exit impression much more positive than it would have been if they responded differently.

If you’re a coffee lover and on the hunt for an aesthetically pleasing café to spend some time in as the winter season approaches, I recommend Goddess and The Baker as a welcoming destination. With the large windows and bright pops of color, it’s the perfect place to warm your soul with a beverage as you watch the snow fall.

Rating Scale: 1-5 exclamation points

Service: ! ! ! !

Setting: ! ! ! ! !

Food: ! ! ! !

Value: ! ! ! !

Overall: ! ! ! !