Woven Into Community, Katalina’s Cupcake Spot Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Katalina’s Bakery and Coffee Shop celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Sunday afternoon with a birthday party open to family and friends.

The party symbolized Katalina’s secret to success in challenging times: connection to community.

As adults chatted and children played with toys near the back room of the bright, cheerful shop at 74 Whitney — and those same people walked around munching on free cupcakes and brownies, set out on platters — owner Katalina Riegelmann greeted well-wishers.

“What Covid taught me was [that] I achieved what I set out to do with this bakery, which was to create happiness in a community one cupcake at a time,” Riegelmann said.

When Covid-19 rolled around and small businesses began to struggle, Riegelmann said, she was ​“absolutely terrified.” She adapted. She dropped off fresh-baked scones, coffee cakes, frittatas at Yale New Haven Hospital, sold rolls of cookie dough that purchasers could bake, and made cookie decorating boxes. A friend who works at Southern Connecticut State University raised money from their own community to support the bakery. Her landlord — Yale — gave her a couple of months’ free rent, and she was able to obtain a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loan to stay afloat.

But Riegelmann mostly focused on her community for helping her through the worst parts of the pandemic. A former after-school teacher at The Foote School, Riegelmann has retained a network of children and parents who have been coming to her bakery for years, and those same children and parents would tell their friends about her store.

Cindy Raymond, a schoolteacher who taught Riegelmann’s son and who has known Riegelmann for over a decade, described how Foote — where Raymond taught until recently — hosted a pandemic bake sale where Riegelmann packaged all of the items.

“She just did everything she could to keep everything afloat. She took any opportunity, did anything she could do to keep going,” Raymond said, adding that she does a lot of tutoring at the bakery’s tables.

Customers Chris Forney and Alexis Woodbury stopped by the party Sunday, raving about the samples Riegelmann had set out for guests. Woodbury described trying the vanilla and rainbow options — and doing a ​“little happy food dance” with delight.

Riegelmann has also brought the New Haven community together through her baking. After a recent taste-off, a cappuccino hazelnut-flavored creation was christened the ​“Boola Boola Brownie.” A similar contest last September led to the ​“New Haven,” a tomato-based cupcake containing nutmeg to represent Connecticut and sprinkled with bacon bits in a nod to the salt of the nearby ocean.

Her favorite cupcake creation? The Yale Bulldog, consisting of devil’s food cake mixed with cayenne pepper and raspberry and topped with nutella.

“I am very much a spicy human, so I love the spice,” she said.

Riegelmann describes the strict schedule she adheres to at the bakery. In bed by 5 p.m., she wakes up at midnight in order to make it to the bakery by 1 a.m. After baking for a few hours, she takes a break from culinary pursuits to work out at District Athletic Club — sometimes to deadlift, sometimes to teach a spin class. (At one point, she borrowed a bike from District and taught an online spin class from behind the counter at her bakery.)

It might seem contradictory that someone so serious about fitness would run a bakery. Riegelmann emphasized her firsthand knowledge of what goes into her food: ​“These are all made from scratch, so … it’s clean eating. I can tell you what’s in every single one of my ingredients.”

Milly Delaney, a recent graduate of Sacred Heart University and pilates instructor at [solidcore] in Westport, has known Riegelmann for over a year, and noted Riegelmann’s commitment to her goals and to wellness.

“I like that, because I feel like it’s not processed,” Delaney said after eating a Boola Boola brownie. ​“Even though it’s a sweet treat, it’s all balanced. And I think that’s important. I’m a fitness instructor but obviously I’m having a sweet treat. You know, life is all about balance and enjoying the sweet treats.”