Taste TV

Bakery benefits: 'Save My Bakery' puts pastries back on the map

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Author: 
Andrew Warren / TV Media
Kerry Vincent hosts “Save My Bakery”

Kerry Vincent hosts “Save My Bakery”

Bakeries are just the best. It's not just all the tasty treats they sell that makes them so fantastic, either -- although that payoff is definitely amazing. No, it's the full-blown experience that makes the mom-and-pop bakeries so wonderful, from the window displays that catch the eye as you walk past with their delectable-looking goodies to the warm, mouth-watering smells that fill the air once you step inside.

It's a sad fact, though, that independent bakeries have been dying out. So just who do these shops turn to when business gets a bit stale? Well, the Food Network, at least, is ready to lend a helping hand.

"Save My Bakery" is premiering on Wednesday, March 19, and while parallels can easily be drawn between it and "Restaurant: Impossible" (not to mention "Kitchen Nightmares" over on Fox), this new show has clearly found a niche that's been crying out to be filled.

In the vein of other restaurant improvement shows, "Save My Bakery" is sending in an expert to help out struggling bakery owners -- and "expert" is most certainly the right word to describe Kerry Vincent.

A self-taught cake decorator, Vincent is widely considered to be one of the best in her field. She was inducted into the International Cake Exploration Societé Sugarcraft Hall of Fame in 2004 and has taught at a number of culinary institutions.

Her mission is nothing less than to put neighborhood bakeries back on the local radar. She'll have her work cut out for her: with stale old recipes, time-trapped decor, unprofitable business models and strained family relationships, the businesses she's visiting all have problems that seem insurmountable to their owners.

Finding that "sweet spot" will be the key. With her modern recipes and uncompromising eye for quality, each episode will find Vincent visiting another failing bakery in the hopes of setting things right. Goodness knows, it can be hard to keep your passion afloat when your business is going under, and part of her mission will be to reawaken the pride that comes from putting out the perfect pastry.

On the surface, "Save My Bakery" may look like yet another restaurant improvement show, but not digging deeper would do it a disservice. While a lot of the challenges facing bakeries may be similar to the ones facing struggling restaurants, the solutions aren't always the same.