Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica and Daniel Becker.
Jessica and Daniel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always wanted a Tea Shop and my partner, Dan, wanted a bar. He’s a Providence native and I am from NY. We moved back to Providence from NYC to open The Duck & Bunny. We wanted to open a European cafe style shop where guests could enjoy their coffee in a real china cup without being inundated by TVs showing the news. A place to escape the everyday.
We offer everything we love – traditional Afternoon Tea, crepes– which I’d been making at home inspired by our trip to Paris, eclectic fares like bacon wrapped dates, the full Elvis sandwich and a variety of salads and other savories. Cupcakes and dessert are our specialties.
Has it been a smooth road?
Initially, we opened as counter service where guests would order at the bar and seat themselves. This lasted for a couple of weeks but guests wanted table service so we had to adjust. We are now a full-service restaurant, as well as a bakery, offering table, and bar service. We’ve been able to grow and evolve with the needs of the customer.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Duck & Bunny story. Tell us more about the business.
We’re located in a historic colonial on Wickenden Street on the East side of Providence and have a lovely garden patio for alfresco dining. The historic setting of dining in an old house brings a charm that other restaurants can’t provide – it’s a cozy house with fireplaces and great food– that’s why we’re a Snuggery, which literally means a cozy, comfortable place.
We open at 10 am daily serving brunch until 4 pm. We serve dinner from 4 pm until late night and we’re a great spot for dessert. Our dessert crepes and ice cream sundae crepes are decadent. We offer daily cupcakes and a slice of the day. We serve beer and wine and create sparkling cocktails.
Coming from NYC, the cupcake craze had inspired us to do the same, but better.
Everything we tried was just sugary sweet. We wanted to focus on flavor. We’ve employed some great pastry chefs using Johnson & Wales as a resource, and cultivated great recipes for our daily cupcake flavors. We have seasonally inspired flavors as well as offering daily gluten-free and vegan cupcakes. We’re a full-service bakery and do everything from pies to wedding cakes. We’ve won awards for our pastry and are known for our cupcakes.
I think that The Duck & Bunny has something for everyone and each guest comes to us for their favorite. Whether it’s just for cupcakes, Afternoon Tea, or to experience a romantic dinner. We offer crepes but they are unique in that we do some fun spins on classics. We make crepburritos, creppzas, and creppiccini. With beer and wine, we’ve created some inspired cocktails using herbs from our own garden. We use locally sourced food whenever possible.
Another unique feature is our setting for weddings and events. We host many showers, receptions, and other special occasions.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are planning to expand next year which will give us more space and a more efficient kitchen for our chefs, as well as a new pastry kitchen. It will better serve our guests and allow us to be more creative with our menu.
We want to provide for everyone’s dietary needs and we offer gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian items on our menu for both daily service and in our sweetery. It’s important to keep up with the dietary needs and trends of our patrons.
I think people are looking for more affordable event venues that have a more casual, personal, and unique quality rather than your run of the mill banquette style. We try to provide this to our customer at both The Duck & Bunny and our other restaurant, Ogie’s Trailer Park.
With social media, it’s been easy to get the word out regarding our daily specials and offerings. In order to make things simple for our customers, we’ve provided an easy online store where patrons can order our custom cakes, pies, cheesecakes, and cupcakes with just a few clicks. We also sell our specialty teas and coffee blends as well as other merchandise. https://squareup.com/store/the-duck-and-bunny-2/
Pricing:
- Afterschool and Afternoon Tea, starting at $15 per person
- Cupcakes in both mini and maxi size, starting at $1 each with a quantity discount
- Crepes start at $10
Contact Info:
- Address: 312 Wickenden Street Providence, RI 02903
- Website: www.theduckandbunny.com
- Phone: 401-270-3300
- Email: theduckandbunny@gmail.com
- Instagram: @theduckandbunny
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuckandBunny
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theduckandbunny
- Yelp: no
- Other: https://squareup.com/store/the-duck-and-bunny-2/
Image Credit:
Jay Gidwitz
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