The Place in Camden, ME

Chelsea Kravitz and Chris Dawson, Owners

Origins

This all began with an are-you-sure-we-haven’t-known-each-other-our-whole-lives friendship when we met working together in 2022, bonding over our mutual feelings of being stuck in the wrong place. We’d both always dreamed of moving to Maine and opening our own food businesses. We were burnt out and looking for sustainability and a higher quality of life while still doing what we love. We found a home in Camden, Maine with an old workshop — a whopping 650 square feet — and realized immediately it had the potential to become our bakery.

The property was previously part of the inn next door and so it was zoned for commercial and residential purposes. Camden had a cupcake shop, but no bakery; it all just seemed like it was meant to be. The idea of starting a relationship, a business and buying a home together all within six months felt irresponsible, possibly reckless; but we took the leap. We packed up our lives and moved to Camden. With a nonexistent budget and a shortage of time, we put the space together in two weeks. We cleaned and painted and made signs and dragged our equipment in and boom; The Place opened on July 15, 2023 with no idea what to expect. We named the bakery The Place from a shared love of The Talking Heads, one of the many things that connected us way back in the beginning. On opening day, there was a line down the driveway and a rogue wave of relief washed over us, a small sign that we’d made the right choices; that this really was meant to be. 

Company Mission

Community is at the center of all that we do. We came to Maine searching for a sense of place and community, determined to spend our days happy, full of pastries and laughter. We wanted to offer something that’s often lacking in small towns, a proper, from scratch, old-school bakery. Large cities have dozens, sometimes hundreds, of bakeries, while many small towns have none; especially one specializing in laminated pastry or sourdough breads. The size of our business (just the two of us!) and how we operate sets us apart, allowing our community and neighbors to get to know our products, our business and us as individuals. Working together side-by-side every day, we’ve gotten into a great rhythm; our home lives and work lives have balance, and we’re able to prioritize our creativity. Being an operation of two has given us a greater ability to be adaptable, with menus, business operations and work flows constantly evolving.

Signature Products

We specialize in sweet and savory comfort pastries (Chris has referred to Chelsea’s food as “fancy Grandma food” since day one). Some of our crowd pleasers and best sellers are our savory pastries and pies. We make chicken pot pies, beef bourguignon pies, pastries filled with pestos, greens, or sausage or onion jam, tomatoes with seasoned bread crumbs and corn salads speckled with herbs. 

Our cinnamon bun made from croissant dough has been a bestseller since day one. It’s just the right amount of sweet, floral coriander to balance the cinnamon, with a pop of sea salt to finish, a childhood taste memory all grown up. 

We never set out to make a lot of bread, or any really, but it was something we had a hard time finding nearby, so we said okay, we’ll make it ourselves. Our New York-style bagels, seeded sourdough loaves and baguettes have become a major portion of our production based on demand. 

Now this one will probably sound odd for a small bakery in Midcoast Maine, but our key lime pie is one of our personal favorites. It has that tart punch that makes you pucker — an absolute must when it comes to key lime pie — graham cracker crust and a simple whipped cream on top. It’s the thing Chelsea always reaches for when she wants a sweet bite.

Our menu changes frequently, but we keep the mainstay items available every day. It gives the adventurous eater something new to try all the time, and those who want what they know and love the thing they’re coming back for every time. 

Equipment ‘Must-Haves’

The piece of equipment that’s been game changing for us is our CoolBot walk-in cooler. It’s given us cold-storage capacity, so we can keep up with demand. If we didn’t have it, we’d only be able to produce about a quarter of what we do now. We didn’t have a big budget at all and we had to buy and install a walk-in; an outdoor one, of course, because we can’t give up an inch of our indoor production space. We chose to buy a CoolBot, which is a typical cooler, but it’s powered by an air conditioner and a device that tricks the air conditioner into being too cold. We were able to purchase a much larger cooler at a much lower cost by going with the CoolBot, and it’s been super reliable. If it were to break, there’s no expensive compressor and calling repair people; it’s just replacing an air conditioner. 

Production Tip

Be flexible. You don’t have to do it all, but you might have to do it differently. Be open- minded and flexible; willing to alter menus, production schedules, etc. to meet the needs of a developing business. A majority of businesses make many changes in the beginning phases of their business, and the ability to adapt to what the community wants, what your personal life needs and what keeps your business healthy is priceless.

Be yourself. Be genuine. We believe this has been a huge part of our growth and success. Treat everyone as if they’re coming to your home (which is obvious for us to say because they literally are).

Future Plans

People keep asking us to grow, find a larger location, hire people so we can produce more, offer more products and do events. But our plans for the future are to keep things just as they are now. The exterior of the shop will get painted, the garden beds improved. A fence for our dogs will go up. We’ll find all of the small improvements that can be made; but we don’t have any plans of expanding or moving locations. We’re happy with our life and feel a sense of stability and calm; and a ten-foot commute can’t be beat.

For more info, visit www.instagram.com/theplace_maine

(This article appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)