Culinary transplants are infusing new life and flavors into suburbs and smaller towns

Every Sunday at exactly 10 a.m., Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos settle into their townhouse and watch as their phones buzz with email after email from eager customers wanting to try their famous apple fritters, Berliner donuts, and rye bagels.

“What used to take us a whole week to sell out or leave a few items behind, now happens in just 25 minutes,” says Ramos.

The word is out: the couple’s Ulster Street Pastry pop-up in Denver is serving up some of Colorado's finest baked goods right from their front door. Due to overwhelming demand, they are opening a permanent bakery in Parker, Colorado, after their culinary careers in Chicago were halted by the pandemic.

Just a year ago, this pastry duo was sitting in their Chicago apartment, uncertain of their next move. With the restaurant industry shut down and their incomes gone, they faced a tough choice.

“Our time in Chicago during Covid was completely untenable,” says Nugent, the former executive pastry and culinary director at Chicago’s Hogsalt restaurant group. “We had the highest-paying, most secure jobs of our careers—until suddenly, they were just gone!”

This couple is part of a growing trend of culinary stars moving their expertise from major U.S. cities to smaller towns and suburbs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Living in large cities no longer makes sense,” Nugent reflects. “Everyone’s priorities have shifted, and hospitality, once considered a ‘safe bet,’ no longer holds that certainty.”

Relocation isn’t new for Nugent and Ramos, former executive pastry and bakery director at Hogsalt. They’ve worked together at six Michelin three-star restaurants and have lived in places like Los Angeles, Paris, Spain, and San Francisco. But this move would be different.

In August, they packed their pastry tools and headed to Colorado to be closer to Ramos’ family in Parker, a suburban area with no Michelin-starred restaurants and little recognition of the two top pastry chefs soon to settle in.

‘What are we going to do next?’

Six years ago, Mellisa and David Root relocated to Portland, Oregon, with hopes of building a small restaurant empire. In March 2016, they opened their first restaurant, The Hairy Lobster.

“They say if you survive the first five years, you’re on your way to profitability,” says Mellisa, who had honed her skills as a pastry chef in prestigious restaurant kitchens. “We were just entering our fifth year, things were going well... and then Covid hit.”

In the spring of 2020, with rent payments looming, no PPP loan to support payroll, and little to no income, they were forced to close their restaurant after four years of operation.

“The numbers don’t lie; the balance sheet and the books show you the cold, hard truth. But it still breaks my heart,” says Mellisa.

The National Restaurant Association reports that The Hairy Lobster is one of approximately 110,000 US restaurants that permanently shut down or ceased operations long-term by the end of the previous year.

The couple’s hopes of staying in the Northwest were shattered.

“We didn’t have a restaurant anymore, so what were we supposed to do?” Mellisa remembers thinking. “We ended up storing our belongings, visiting family for months, and trying to figure out our next move because everything we had planned for the next decade suddenly disappeared.”

New paths, far from home

Without a clear plan ahead, they set off for the Rocky Mountains and Breckenridge, Colorado, where David received an offer to become the executive chef at Breckenridge Distillery’s restaurant.

“We’re definitely wanderers,” Mellisa laughs. “We’ve lived all over. We just go wherever the industry takes us, or where a great opportunity or someone in need of a talented pastry chef calls.”

This spring, a fresh opportunity arose for Mellisa 1,700 miles away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She moved closer to sea level in Charlottesville, Virginia, to launch a new pastry program at the Farmington Country Club.

For the time being, the couple will live in different time zones, holding on to the hope that one day they’ll be together again. Mellisa says, wherever that might be, it won’t be in a big city.

“If we’re starting from scratch and we’re this far into our lives, I need to do it somewhere affordable with a higher quality of life because I don’t want to spend my last days with a spoon in my hand, standing at the stove.”

A shift in the culinary landscape

The relocations of both couples reflect what many in the culinary world see as a growing trend of chefs moving away from large cities and settling in smaller towns and suburbs.

“The pandemic has shown us a new perspective on quality of life,” says Nugent. “[Chefs] have reevaluated their priorities.”

“It’s no longer about living in a bustling city with the constant pressure to fill tables and keep those covers coming night after night. Maybe it’s returning to your roots. Maybe it’s becoming a standout in a smaller community and giving people there something to look forward to and take pride in.”

Portland, the Roots’ former home, is experiencing its own shift.

“Some of the key culinary figures in this town have simply decided to move on,” says Kurt Huffman, owner of ChefStable, a collective that partners with chefs to own and operate 24 diverse restaurants, bars, bakeries, and event spaces across Portland and its surrounding areas.

“There’s a population that’s moved out of downtown or is no longer interested in going there. They’re relocating to the suburbs,” he explains.

However, Huffman is quick to note that the pandemic isn’t the sole reason that large city centers have become less appealing to chefs. He believes that the combination of Covid-related closures, civil unrest, and protests has made it increasingly difficult for restaurants to provide a safe and attractive environment for both staff and customers.

“Chefs are just fed up with Portland,” says Huffman. “We’re seeing a lot of our staff move to smaller towns like Bend, Oregon. Bend is poised to see huge growth.”

ChefStable has also decided to shift its focus away from Portland’s once-thriving downtown, now favoring suburbs like Beaverton, Lake Oswego, and Vancouver, Washington, where many of Portland’s former regulars now live and work.

“We have eight new ventures underway,” says Huffman. “All of them are outside of Portland.”

Bringing a taste of Paris to Parker

Although the Ulster St. pop-up bakery Nugent and Ramos launched under Colorado’s Cottage Foods Act has been both eye-catching and highly successful, their goal for this summer is to open their first brick-and-mortar shop, Poulette Bakeshop, located 45 minutes south of Denver in Parker.

“We’re bringing our Paris experience to Parker,” says Ramos. “It’s really exciting to offer that to the community here.”

“It’s been incredibly rewarding to introduce high-quality ingredients and techniques to our new community,” Nugent shares. “We’re just thrilled to be in a place that really appreciates what we do.”

Huffman believes other chefs will soon follow in the footsteps of successful pioneers like Nugent, Ramos, and the Roots.

“It’s going to be fantastic for the smaller towns that have typically been overlooked,” he says.

“You need those trailblazers, and I’m sure some young chef will follow in their footsteps and open a unique bistro. When something’s happening and attracting attention, people want to be part of it.”