The Red Eye Bakery, coming this fall to the Brooklyn Arts District, is the creation of self-taught baker Elaine Brown.
 
As she states on her Kickstarter page, “The Red Eye Bakery started out as an idea dreamt up on [an] empty stomach during an early morning shift in an unfamiliar town with nothing open before 6:00 a.m.”
 
A former radiation safety tech working 12-hour shifts, Brown was frustrated by the lack of places to get something hot and fresh to eat in the early morning hours either just before or just after work.
 
So a couple of years ago she started taking a hard look at what it would take to turn her passion for baking, a lifelong hobby, into a business. She’s spent countless hours perfecting recipes and coming up with a business plan. When Dave Nathans, owner of the Brooklyn Arts Center, approached her about a space in a building he is currently renovating on North Fourth Street, she was ready to take the leap.
 
“This is a chance for me to do what I love and also offer something to the community,” Brown said.
 
Plans for The Red Eye Bakery are now in full swing, and Brown hopes to open by mid-October. Her specialty is croissants, but she will carry a variety of breakfast and dessert pastries as well as cookies, tarts, quiches and breads. And her doors will open at 5 a.m.
 
With hours that early, Brown knows that coffee is also a necessity. She plans to serve coffee and espresso from Black Rifle Coffee Co., a veteran-owned roastery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Brown said she will be the first in the area to carry this coffee, and free coffee will be offered to all on-duty police officers and first responders.
 
The Red Eye Bakery will be located at 1013 N. Fourth St.

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