Indulgence Bakery, a mainstay on Highway 20 in downtown Fonthill, will serve up its last whole wheat loaf, raisin bagel, and cherry turnover this Saturday, August 31. Owner and chief pastry chef Paul Roode, who founded the business in 2006, is retiring.
Talk about a gut punch!
Indulgence called itself one of the few “from scratch” bakeries left in Niagara, and if that’s what the difference was, it was definitely noticeable. Not once in the 15 years we’ve been going in there were we ever disappointed. Outstandingly excellent in every way.
When I learned this tragic news earlier today, I hustled right over to confirm, particularly since the last I heard from Paul Roode—who has had the business for sale for some time—was that he was in no rush to hang up his apron, despite cutting back opening hours in recent years.
Things change, he told me this morning, and those things pointed to the end of August as the time to say his final farewell. The business remains profitable, but surely the grind of getting to work in the middle of the night has taken its toll.
Pick up nearly any copy of the Voice over the decades and you would find an Indulgence ad. Paul was a reliable and valued advertiser, and it was doubly satisfying to me that we were helping promote such a decent man and business.
He’s not much for publicity, so there will be no sayonara interview. But if there’s a sliver of good news here it’s that Paul has sold kitchen equipment to his next door neighbour, The Travel Cafe, whom he’ll work with over the next little while to train in baking some of Indulgence’s most popular goods, such as their cranberry walnut sourdough bread, Everything Bagels, and with any luck the croissants.
(If you hadn’t heard, by the way, The Travel Cafe is under new ownership and management since it was located at the corner of Pelham and Hwy 20, so if you’ve been avoiding the place on principle, maybe give that a re-think.)
It was too late today to place a last order for pickup on Saturday, but I was able to snag a cranberry walnut loaf—truly a miracle of breadmaking that we’ve enjoyed for years. The cheese bagels are also outstanding, and the rye/pumpernickle bread, and...
The small seating area was also pretty popular—rudely interrupted by Covid—and a favourite haunt of a certain former Town Councillor, who presumably will now decamp one door east to The Travel Cafe.
This town needs a decent bakery. Supermarket baked goods just don’t cut it. Here’s hoping someone with delicious vision fills the very large gap that Indulgence’s departure will leave.
See you next time.
