Business Beat: This popular baker went from business owner to book promoter

Last year, Sweet and Saucy Shop, a Bixby Knolls bakery specializing in wedding cakes and custom desserts, closed down its storefront — despite being a hit.

But the owners didn't just turn off their ovens and call it a career. Instead, they simply decided to pursue other passions.

Here's what happened:

The bakery was so popular that one of the shop's wedding cakes was featured in The Knot, a wedding planning website. Oprah Winfrey ordered cookies from there. And Canadian pop star Justin Bieber featured Sweet and Saucy's custom cakes in a YouTube video unveiling his collaboration with the shoe company Crocs, according to one of the owners, Eileen Beaird Francabandera.

But Beaird Francabandera and her daughter, Melody Brandon, who was the shop's head pastry chef, sold Sweet and Saucy in March 2022 to focus on other endeavors. Cameron Slaugh and Steve Massis — who also own The Attic, a southern style restaurant in Long Beach — bought the storefront, 3722 Atlantic Ave., and transformed it into an artisan bakery called Nonna Mercato.

"When we ended Sweet and Saucy Shop, everyone asked if we were retiring," the mother-daughter pair wrote on social media. "Our answer is: ‘We’re not retiring; we’re refiring.’"

Beaird Francabandera, in fact, is now helping promote her sister Rosie Black Schoepf's new memoir, "Behind the Queen's Smile," which was published in April.

In the memoir, Black Schoepf details the inner workings of her personal life in the 1970s and ’80s, when she and her siblings were part of a professional softball exhibition team called The Queen and Her Court.

The team consisted of Black Schoepf as the queen, with her siblings, including Beaird Francabandera, comprising the court. Black Schoepf was the star of the exhibition and was promoted as "the world's greatest woman softball pitcher," who routinely struck out major league stars and celebrities, including Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Billy Crystal.

The entire affair was led by their father, Royal Beaird, and the memoir recounts Black Schoepf's experiences with child abuse, addiction, mental health struggles and forgiveness during that time in her life.

The book is available online.

The demand for flexible office and meeting space is at an all-time high nationwide — and companies providing shared workspaces have started offering creative perks to draw in clients.

That includes Ironfire Workspaces, a shared office location in Bellflower. That workspace is offering $5 day passes on Fridays throughout June.

"A day pass includes all-day access to our shared workspace and amenities," Ironfire's owner, Jeremy Rencher, wrote in an email, "(including) blazing-fast Wi-Fi, locally roasted coffee, copying/printing, and parking is always free."

Rencher said that 24% of Ironfire's clientele live in Long Beach — twice as many as any other city in the area. Day passes will be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Friday the rest of the month.

Information: ironfire.co/locations/bellflower.

Rubio's Coastal Grill, on Second Street and Roycroft Avenue, will give away free, reusable canvas tote bags with any purchase, on Thursday, June 8, to celebrate World Oceans Day.

The restaurant has a tradition of offering the reusable bags to its patrons each June to highlight the importance of protecting our oceans and waterways. This year's bag features a painted design created exclusively for Rubio's by artist Marco Tulio — and makes a great summer beach tote.

Mendocino Farms's pick-up and delivery-only facility, 1388 Daisy Ave., is offering a new summer line of salads and sandwiches.

The new menu includes a hot honey peach and prosciutto sandwich, along with updated versions of their turkey avocado salsa verde and Italian roast beef sandwiches. Summer salad options include watermelon street cart salad, southern macaroni salad and Oaxacan potato salad.

Use code GRAD20 for a 20% discount on catering orders for graduation celebrations. For all orders, go to order.mendocinofarms.com.

Special thanks to Belmont Shore reader Patti Worsham for noticing that I dropped a digit on the address of the The Royal Hawaiian Bar and Restaurant in the Thursday, June 1, edition of the Grunion Gazette — no doubt she is a fan of their pupu platter. The correct address is at 331 N. Pacific Coast Highway.

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