Lynn Bachelder, owner of Perch Cafe and Bakery, sits with her son, Eli, in the cafe on Friday, Nov. 4. Bachelder opened the cafe at 11 Friendship Road in Waldoboro in August. (Maia Zewert photo)
Lynn Bachelder is a longtime baker and family businesswoman, and this summer she used her talents on a new adventure in downtown Waldoboro with her children by her side.
In August, Bachelder opened Perch Cafe and Bakery at 11 Friendship Road. Perch offers espresso drinks, specialty teas, drip coffee, and more, along with a rotating menu of baked goods ranging from freshly baked bagels to gluten-free banana bread.
She is joined behind the counter by her son Eli, daughter Madison, and 4-month-old granddaughter, Juniper.
“We’re leaning into the family angle of the family business,” Bachelder said.
Before opening the cafe, she had been looking for a something she and her children could do together while offering them employment in good conditions.
Watching Eli hold his niece behind the counter, Bachelder said she was reminded of her days in her first cafe and bakery, which she opened in Ohio at the age of 25. She had started teaching herself to bake after the birth of her first child, putting the baby in her stroller and walking to the library for cookbooks.
“This has always been how I operate,” she said. “Strap a kid to your back and do it.”
She started to sell her baked goods at a local farmers market and the limits of her home kitchen had her selling out by nine each morning. Another vendor partnered with her in opening that cafe, and soon she was joined by the first two of her five children.
“Every time I took a job it would be in food, in baking or cooking,” Bachelder said. “It’s just what I love to do.”
Her father believed in the saying that if you do what you love you never work a day in your life. She described him as “happy and well-loved,” and said she has kept his motto in the back of her mind while finding her own way in life.
The pandemic caused Bachelder to “continuously reevaluate” where she wanted to position herself in the world, she said, though opening a coffee shop was not her first plan when she moved up to the Midcoast from Portland a year and a half ago.
In fact, when she came to see the space that is now Perch in March 2022, she arrived with the absolute intention not to rent it. But, she said with a gesture around the bright murals and tables filling the space, “I could see it instantly how it is now.”
After a trip to Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Damariscotta, she settled on the name Perch.
“The definition is ‘to stop and enjoy the view’ and that really settled into my bones,” said Bachelder.
After lots of painting, research, training from their espresso provider Little Wolf in Ipswich, Mass. and drip coffee provider Tern in nearby Jefferson on their custom espresso machine from Seattle, Wash., Perch was ready to open.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming welcome,” said Bachelder. “It’s been really overwhelmingly lovely.”
“We put our hearts on our sleeves in terms of what we believe,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of people really appreciative of our willingness to support all kinds of folks.”
These days, Bachelder arrives between 4 and 5 each morning to start baking and works throughout the day to keep the counter stocked. She said she enjoys everything about it – the early start, seeing the sun rise, managing her time, and feeling the satisfaction of feeding others.
“Each day you get to create all these beautiful things and see people enjoy them. It comes full circle all the time,” she said.
She develops many of her own recipes by combining existing ideas and experimenting with standards, such as the buttermilk biscuits that make up her breakfast sandwiches.
“I pay myself in cookbooks,” Bachelder said while leafing through a stack of them. “I read excessively.”
As they perfect their bakery offerings, the Perch team hopes to expand into lunch, takeout beer and wine, charcuterie options, and some gourmet retail groceries. Bachelder also plans to host community events like Sunday suppers and movie nights, especially come winter.
“We really want to become a community hub,” said Bachelder.
Connecting with neighbors has been rewarding for the family, especially developing relationships with regulars.
The feedback Bachelder said she hears the most is, “We’re so happy you’re here.”
Perch Cafe and Bakery is open 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, find Perch on Instagram.
