JENNIVEE’S NEW LAKEVIEW BAKERY IS BOTH PINKER AND POSHER
For the past seven years, Filipina baker Jenni Vee has proven that she understands celebrations need a cake, it’s the centerpiece for parties, birthdays, weddings, and everyday revelries. So when Vee decided to celebrate trans communities, she thought deeply about representing herself and fellow trans women with an immaculate confection swirling with the pink, white, and blue colors of the trans pride flag.
Vee has a lot to celebrate with the debut of her second location, Jennivee’s Bakery & Cafe, which opened Friday, June 28 at 2925 N. Halsted Street. Peachy, peppy, and polished, the roomy space reflects the effervescent style and energy of its owner, also clad in a pink ensemble, with nods to classic Parisian charm with a black-and-white checkerboard floor and crystal chandeliers also seen at the original bakery.
“Trans Girl Magic cake is near and dear to my heart,” Vee says of the buttercream-frosted lemon poundcake with strawberry filling. “It’s bright, it’s fruity, it’s vibrant — kind of like how I would describe the trans community as a whole!”
When all the tables arrive (supply chain delays continue to plague the hospitality industry), it will seat up to 50 alongside long, glowing pastry cases packed with signature hits like ube-chiffon purple velvet cake and bright green buko pandan cupcakes. There’s a selection of gelatos and an espresso bar, where the team serves Sparrow coffee and caffeinated interpretations of Vee’s creations — think banana Biscoff lattes and tiramisu affogato.
Once staff have settled in and operations are running smoothly, Vee says she’d like to add sweet and savory Filipino breakfast and brunch staples. It was an option she hadn’t considered in 2017 when she opened her original bakery in a tiny space at Sheffield and Aldine in Lakeview. At the time, Vee and her mother were the only employees and she “didn’t know the first thing about running a business,” she says. “All I knew is I wanted to create cakes that people would love and a safe space that’s very inclusive and welcoming to everyone.”
That was five years before fine dining juggernaut Kasama became the world’s first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant, sparking a “boom” of interest in upscale Pinoy cuisine, Vee says. She is eager to leverage the opportunity to extend that excitement to pastry and baked goods by highlighting the country’s significant pantheon of sweet and savory delights.
“We have a rich culture and history of pastry [influenced by] 400 years of Spanish colonization,” she says. “The beauty of Filipino cusine is that it’s so diverse and regional. I’m from an island called Cebu where we have our own traditional pastries and breakfast items that I want to showcase. And now we have the space to do it!”
Venture inside Jennivee’s Bakery & Cafe and peek at its menu items in the photographs below.
Jennivee’s Bakery & Cafe, 2925 N. Halsted Street.
