Photograph courtesy Sebastian Bakehouse
The historic Mt. Washington Ice & Beer building will once again serve as a convenient place for Eastsiders to get their beverage fix with the opening of Sebastian Bakehouse’s first coffeehouse this month. In addition to coffee, the popular bakery will serve its signature handmade pastries as well as savory breakfast and lunch dishes.
You could say the past few years have been a bit of a whirlwind for Sebastian Bakehouse’s co-founders and pastry chefs Laura Kate Adelman and Randy Sebastian. What started in 2021 as a pop-up shop of sorts—where they served pastries out of the keg window at the former Dutch’s in Hyde Park—quickly moved into a small Mariemont storefront and then to the current Summit Park location in 2023.
All the while, Adelman and Sebastian kept their eyes and ears open for a second location, one that would enable them to expand both their menu and offer indoor seating.
“We were always looking for another area to sell our pastries as our Blue Ash location is very limited in dining,” Sebastian says. “We really wanted a space where people could sit down, have a great cup of coffee, enjoy our pastries, and also maybe embellish more into our savory programming.”
Knowing this, their friend and real estate broker Michael Bergman introduced them to Jake Hodesh, the director of real estate development at the Pink Unicorn Development Corporation, whose company was restoring the historic Plymouth Street building. Upon meeting Hodesh and viewing the space in the spring 2025, Sebastian says it all clicked immediately. They really fell in love with the restoration, and he and Adelman “just totally saw it happening.”
“It was like, this is the opportunity you’ve been asking for your whole life and it’s right here in front of you, don’t let it get away,” Sebastian recalls.
The long-vacant, former Mt. Washington Ice & Beer building was constructed in the early 20th century and most recently served as a local pony keg until its closing several years ago. The building went up for sale in 2017, and the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation secured the rights to preserve it in 2018.
Adelman and Sebastian’s vision for the coffeehouse is one they share with city of Mt. Washington—to “restore something meaningful and return it to the community in a way that truly serves it,” according to the Bakehouse’s Instagram post.
After meeting with Hodesh and others involved in the project, learning more about the history of the building from people who grew up in the neighborhood, and taking into consideration the lack of other similar businesses in the area, the decision to open the coffeehouse solidified.
“I respect my peers, and I didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” Sebastian explains. “I didn’t want to move into a similar or very near neighborhood to where what I do might affect what they do. I [also] felt Mt. Washington was missing that type of service. I want to be able to support the neighborhood, come here and have people spend their time and be a part of it. In Mt. Washington there’s a sense of community, the stuff I didn’t grow up with in Las Vegas. I welcome it with open arms and am so excited to be a part of it.”
The coffeehouse partnered with Mom ‘n ’em Coffee to serve its drip coffee blend, Franklin’s Cold Brew, and Ferrari Brothers beans in its espresso program.
“We’ll do our best to carry the same level of quality [as Mom ‘n ’em],” Sebastian notes. “I love how they raised the bar with the art and craft of coffee and we’re going to do our part to respect it and elevate it as well.”
In addition to coffee, Sebastian describes the forthcoming menu as something you would expect from a nice, upscale cafe, with morning offerings like breakfast sandwiches, toasts, and bowls that parlay into early-to-late afternoon savory bites, dips, and crisps, all the while with fresh pastries on offer behind the counter. The duo will bake their pastries at the Summit location and transport them to the coffeehouse to be served cafe-style.
The bright and airy open concept will seat up to 20 inside and will offer a small amount of outdoor dining. In the future, they plan to offer an online ordering system for patrons on-the-go.
Be sure to check Sebastian Bakehouse’s Instagram and Facebook accounts to find out exact details about the coffeehouse’s grand opening when it’s announced.
Facebook Comments