Bonobos Bakery opens in Waynesboro
The new business is located at 1221 E. Main St., Waynesboro
Lauren Wisherd has a background in fermentation and distillation, working as the master distiller at Silverback in Afton. She even has a master's degree in fermentation sciences, brewing, and distilling from Scotland's Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Baking, though, has always been a passion for Wisherd. For years it was just a side project. Her husband, Jarrad Wisherd, suggested she sell some of her products at farmers' markets, baking in her home kitchen. The couple live in Nelson County, so it made sense to test the waters at the Nelson Farmers' Market in Nellysford. She was there sporadically in the summer of 2023 and almost every Saturday the next summer.
"We couldn't bake enough to keep up with demand," she said. "We would sell out of all of our stuff within a few hours and the feedback was always encouraging."
That forced a decision for the couple -- keep doing the baking business on the side or make it a full-time operation. They chose the latter. That was the fall of 2024.
The original plan was to add on to their home kitchen and bake from there, but a friend in real estate told the Wisherds about a building that was for sale in Waynesboro. Lauren and Jarrad fell in love with the building that used to be home to Ed's Grill.
Bonobos Bakery is located at 1221 E. Main St. in Waynesboro.
"We decided to start our journey there," Lauren Wisherd said. Her husband designed the layout of the interior and was responsible for getting all the kitchen equipment. They found a lot of the equipment at Liberty University, which was selling items when they remodeled their dining hall.
The key to everything was Liberty's old, and very large, pizza oven which had to be taken apart, moved from Lynchburg to Waynesboro and reassembled. While well worth it, Wisherd said it took longer than expected, delaying opening the bakery.
Better late then never, Bonobos is now open. Named for their daughter Boston, whose nickname is Bo and who loves pink, explaining the color scheme, Bonobos held a soft opening to the public May 17. Wisherd said the response was a bit overwhelming. She was so appreciative of the community support on that first day.
The official opening to the public was May 22. Bonobos will be open Thursdays through Sundays, 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. or until they are sold out. Wisherd admits they may struggle with how much to make every day until they get a feel for customer flow.
Not only do the Wisherds sell their baked goods at the Waynesboro store, but on Saturdays you will still find Bonobos as the Nelson Farmers' Market as well as the Waynesboro Farmers' Market. Currently Bonobos has a staff of four, but Wisherd said they plan to grow to 10 very quickly in the next few weeks.
What's on the menu?
Bonobos is mostly known for its cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. They are expanding the offerings now that the couple has a storefront. They will add cherry rolls and sausage gravy rolls, sourcing both the cherries and sausage locally.
"We're trying to use as many local farms and vendors as we can," Wisherd said. "Especially in our seasonal offerings."
Bonobos also has cookies -- including the Kitchen Sink which includes caramel, pretzel and chocolate -- and pies. They will rotate the pies weekend to weekend. During opening weekend Wisherd said they will have cherry crumble, blueberry crumble and key lime. Soon Wisherd wants to add bread.
They are also partnering with Trager Brothers Coffee in Afton. Bonobos will have a special dark chocolate coffee blend available.
"Eventually we'll have special order menus for events and a catering menu," she said. "We're not quite set up for that yet, but those are goals for the future."
-- Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Connect with Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and on Instagram @hitepatrick. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.