May 8, 2024 By Marisa Olsen
Scituate Harbor has something sweet to celebrate, thanks to the new bakery, pastry shop, and cafe, Knead Kitchen. Created and founded by Hingham resident Victoria Donnelly, a cupcake baker super star and illustrious mountain climber (we’ll get to that later), Knead is a welcome and thoughtful addition to the South Shore.
From cupcakes, lattes, pastries, tartines, and smoothie bowls, Knead has a little bit of everything. It’s the kind of place where you want to hang around for hours, and it was designed that way on purpose. It took Victoria nearly two years to find the right space, until she finally landed on the storefront on 133 Front Street. The space is L-shaped with tall ceilings, creamy color walls, oversized windows, and is outfitted with light wooden tones. Brass and glass globe lighting fixtures hang from the industrial ceiling with cascading plants throughout, creating an inviting atmosphere.
Customers enter on the corner of Front Street and Allen Place to queue up (and drool), over the various pastries presented on colorful vintage cake stands. Once your order is placed, you may head around the corner and select from a variety of seating–including two large wooden communal tables with plush seating, a colorful corner sectional couch, and some bar seats.
During my visit to Knead, I had the pleasure of trying the sourdough bread, which is made in house–thanks to Harriet–the 11-year-old starter that Victoria brought back from England last year. She was gifted it from an opera singer in London who teaches sourdough classes, and the bread does not disappoint. I also enjoyed one of Victoria’s signature tartines, an open-faced sandwich. The smoked salmon tartine featured toasted sourdough with delicate layers of luscious smoked salmon, tzatziki, briny capers, and finished with lemon zest. The entree was delicious, colorful, and easy to eat without a fork and knife.
Sadly, for me, the croissants–which customers rave about– were sold out, but I know I’ll be back.
During my visit at Knead, I had the opportunity to chat with Victoria and learn more about her background, baking, and climbing passions, and of course, some of her favorite pastries.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
I was born in England and moved to the States for graduate school to pursue a Master’s of Journalism in 2004. Baking has always been a secret side passion project, and after working in kids media, I decided I wanted to be a baker.
I applied to go on Cupcake Wars and actually won the show! Then I quit my job and opened up Cakeology in Downtown Crossing Boston, where I focused on cupcakes and custom cakes. Two years later, I opened up my second location. It was so fun baking and spending time delivering cupcakes in my colorful van through Boston. After a few years, I wanted a change, so my family and I decided to move to the South Shore and we ended up in Hingham. In Hingham, I was able to create a robust custom cakes business. Once Covid hit, I decided to sell a selection of mini cupcakes to customers for holidays and then donate a portion of the proceeds to different charities. I loved being able to deliver something delicious and bring joy to others. And people were so generous with their support for the different causes. It inspired me to create something bigger, so I started looking for my own space to open up the bakery, and two years later, I finally found it.
Since opening this winter, we’ve had such an amazing response; I’ve had to bring on more bakers and hope to add another baker to the team this summer.
How would you describe Knead?
When I opened Knead, I really wanted a place with a lot of room and comfiness where anyone could come hang out, bring their stroller, a laptop, their grandma–anything! Comfort was key. I knew I wanted to make people feel welcome to stay and hang, so I chose communal tables so that guests could interact and have engaging experiences with each other.
Hospitality is another tenet of Knead. We want our staff to remember our customers’ names, and we love that we already have regulars.
We felt that we really needed this type of experience post-Covid. We love our location and are excited to give our customers a memorable experience.
We are open Tuesday to Sunday from 7 am to 5 pm and closed on Mondays to prep.
How would you describe the menu?
We were really excited to bring a European style bakery with a diverse menu to Scituate. It’s
fast casual, but fresh and authentic, with a simple yet approachable concept and the best ingredients. Everything is made here in-house and the bakers start their mornings at 4 am every day.
We have four full-time bakers, plus myself, and we all have a different area of expertise, including brownies, cakes, croissants, buns, and bread.
When we were building the menu, I really felt the tartine would be a hit as people don’t always want a giant, messy sandwich. So far, the top seller is the Croque Monsieur, a French classic. While some customers may not be familiar with this kind of sandwich, our friendly staff is happy to explain more. (For those who are unfamiliar, a Croque Monsieur features ham, bechamel, mustard, and melted gruyere cheese.) If you want something a bit simpler, we have staples, such as an Irish cheddar grilled cheese, an ode to Scituate.
We pride ourselves on using natural ingredients without any preservatives–our bread features only three ingredients. We recently brought on Rare Breed Coffee from New Hampshire, which is an organic and women-owned business. We love how hands-on this company is; they even came on site to teach us how to properly brew the drinks. For our house roast, we chose a light and bright citrus blend, which we think pairs well with our pastries.
When you’re not baking and running your own company, what do you like to do?
I have two daughters who are nine and six and I love it when they come to Knead to help me. They have been integral to the process. My older daughter has had her drawn version of the Knead logo on her bedroom wall since kindergarten.
When I’m not with my family or baking, I am climbing. My dream is to climb the Seven Summits (Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Carstensz Pyramid, Denali, Vinson Massif, and Everest). So far I have climbed Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua, and I will be training to tackle Denali next summer, which will take me about six months. It’s such a fun and challenging thing to do and so few women do it.
What else would you like patrons to know?
Looking ahead towards the fall, we hope to expand Knead to include community events, classes, speakers, and book clubs. We also want people to know that we cater and make custom cakes. We want to take the worry out of people’s special events so they can focus on what matters. So whether it’s a platter, fresh flowers, or a delicious cake, we can do it all.
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Knead Kitchen and Bakery
133 Front St, Scituate, MA 02066
Tuesdays – Sundays: 7am – 5pm
(617) 412-6746