First Anniversary is Sweet for Macaron Maker
Always Yours Bakery Cafe owner Natalie Wong proudly stands behind some of her tasty creations.
In 2013, Natalie Wong took her passion for baking and created macarons for $1 each at Skyline High School in Oakland. Little did she know she was about to embark on a journey that would see her selling her creations in Castro Valley at the Always Yours Bakery Cafe.
Originally making 8-10 flavors under the business name of "Macarons by Natalie," she began receiving more and more orders. In 2018, she did 3 pop-up markets to growing acclaim, but it was in late 2019 after the Foodie Land Night Market in Berkeley, where she sold her entire stock of 2,000 macarons on the very first day, that she knew it was time to become a full-time baker.
"My passion for baking helped me overcome all obstacles and made me even more determined to make owning my own bakery a reality," Wong said. "Always Yours is proof of my hard work and determination. I now get to do what I love and serve my most delicious desserts made with the highest quality ingredients, love, and care to my community."
Wong says she always had a passion for baking and once she tried making French macarons, she found her niche. Natalie's passion fueled her to try new designs and flavors and her dessert creations helped her grow her business.
"I like to be artistic, and I love to draw, so I wanted to turn my art into something edible," Wong said. "In the Bay Area, most bakers stick to the basic flavors of macarons like vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and raspberry. I wanted to make it more like Baskin Robbins with more original flavors. Some are inspired by my Asian including matcha and white rabbit candy, which is an Asian candy I grew up with."
But when the pandemic hit, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was making a mistake baking full-time. The outlook was not encouraging for businesses all over the world, and the Bay Area was not the exception. Her orders were being canceled and Natalie came to a crossroads regarding whether she should continue following her dreams. However, like a true baker, she got back in the kitchen to create more mouthwatering desserts and kept her dream alive.
Natalie opened the Always Yours Bakery Cafe in late 2021, amidst the pandemic, after raising more than $93,000 through a Kickstarter campaign with the simple belief that through all our differences, everyone can come together over mouthwatering desserts. Now, with her very own bakery and cafe in Castro Valley, they are known for having a wide variety of macaron flavors and 6-8 character-macaron designs by Natalie herself.
Additionally, the success of Natalie’s bakery and cafe helped them grow to offer custom orders and catering for community and private events and for tech companies such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other local businesses throughout the Bay Area.
Wong says she chose Castro Valley to launch her first shop because of the community. The site in the Castro Village also had good parking and other restaurants and shops that would support her macarons.
"The hardest part of launching the shop was planning it all out and getting the right vendors lined up to do help me realize my goals," Wong said noting she hopes to expand operations to San Mateo and San Jose.
One year later, surviving a worldwide pandemic, the doors to Always Yours Bakery Cafe are still welcoming guests and bringing together the community.
To commemorate this milestone, Always Yours Bakery Cafe will be having its 1 Year Anniversary celebration, Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11, from 11 am to 8 pm. Customers will get to celebrate with the employees. There will be a raffle with 10 prize winners and an online trivia game with 3 prize winners.
For more information visit: https://always-yours-bakery-turns-one.eventbrite.com. Registration is not required to attend.