Violets on Main Village Bakery — Restaurant in Merrickville-Wolford

I have been a regular customer of Violets on Main since Janurary 2022. I buy their bread regularly, and occasionally I buy pastries. The prices are high, but the quality is very good to excellent.

My concern is with the bread. I buy loaves of white bread and what they call "ancient grains." Becuse I want a "toaster" (ie., rectangular) loaves, I always order the day before.

About 1/3 of the time, they make a mistake with the order, such as: making fewer loaves than I ordered making their preferred round loaves, instead of the rectangular loaves I ordered.

So, they are good at taking orders, just not consistent at fulfilling them.

Beyond the mistakes, I have these standing irritations: the loaves are quite small, making this poor value for money they have no slicer, denying customers a routine convenience available everywhere else.

On the value-for-money matter, I appreciate that this is a premium product, and I am willing to pay extra for the quality. However, the trade-offs are increasingly irritating. I don't like paying extra to be irritated. I can get irritation for free.

I am getting tired of the regular disappointments I have at this bakery. I would go someplace else, but I have found other bakeries in Smiths Falls and Kemptville disappointing for other reasons.

I will continue to buy from Violets on Main, but I am one disappointing experience away from giving up on them. If my expectations of Violets on Main must continue to drop, I might as well buy the manufactured bread at the grocery store. Low expectations make for fewer disappointments.

I gave Violets on Main 3/5 now. Back in the winter, I would have given them 4/5. Their score is going the wrong way.

UPDATE: In reply to Patti and Trevor's response.

Thank you for responding so quickly and thoroughly.

Please don't blame your young employees. Patti, Trevor and one of your "students" have each taken orders and got them wrong. So, it's not just the younger ones.

I'm...

Recently the dream team from Violet’s on Main helped to cater our wedding.

Providing a wonderful assortment of Hors d’oeuvres.

Patti also baked and decorated our wedding cake. To say I was a fussy bride would be an understatement; however, Patti attended to my every request, offering advice and expertise on all things food related.

I had no idea how valuable Patti would be to our entire wedding vision.

Patti met frequently with me ahead of our wedding day, providing me with detailed and organized plans of how our buffet style wedding would be managed and presented.

To say the food was delicious and things went seamlessly would be an understatement. Patti and her team delivered perfection.

And then there was the cake………THE CAKE!

I watched my “ Cake Aficionado “ friend eat three pieces, one after the other, claiming, “this is the best cake I’ve ever eaten. “ AND IT WAS!!!!!!

Patti and her team did not stop, they simply did not stop working throughout the entire event. In fact, they continued to work after all had left the venue to go home and relax, assuring any remaining food was packaged in “to go “containers, and what was left of our cake all cut and wrapped for us to enjoy. We have frozen two pieces and plan to have them for our first anniversary ( Patti’s idea.)

They left us with a perfectly clean kitchen, garbage disposed of, and all rented catering equipment carefully placed back in their containers.

The Violets on Main team helped to assure a fussy bride’s dreams came true, and for this my husband and I are so grateful to someone we now consider a friend.

Thank...

I have a personal rule: if I walk into a food purveyor and it doesn't smell delicious (it at least like the food it sells) then I don't stick around. This is not the case at Nana B's. The wonderful smells catch you as you enter, and encourage impulse purchasing. Came in for a (oh so delicious) butter tart? You should probably get some cookies as well, just in case. "Only" wanted a loaf of bread? Nonsense. Six of those warm croissants should also go home with you. They'll make great breakfast sandwiches tomorrow! It's a small bakery, and under current Covid considerations they can only allow two customers at a time, but it is worth the wait. The down side is that, to be considerate, you should try to get in and out quickly, so that the next visitor can have their turn. If you find, however, while tasting something as you walk to the car, that you should have got more, you can always line up again! The staff there are also wonderful. You can see them working in the kitchen as you browse the displays, and I've never had an experienced there with anybody who wasn't cheerful and helpful. Around Christmas (and maybe other times, I'm not sure) Anne's maple candied bacon is worth trying. If you have to watch your sugar intake (or pork intake) then you'll have to self regulate, but it gets my seal of approval. Merrickville is fortunate to have a green like to in town. Keep up...