B.Y.O.B. is based out of Louisville, Ohio. It’s a home bakery and custom catering business run by Chef Robert Monter, and the B.Y.O.B. doesn’t stand for Bring Your Own Beer. It stands for…Bring Your Own Bob?
Nope, that’d be super cool though. The acronym stands for Be Your Own Boss. A baking operation can certainly allow for that sort of freedom. Its wares have been found at farmers markets such as Pearl Market and Canal Market District. Thanks to the cold weather operation of the Worthington Farmers Market inside of the Worthington Mall*, B.Y.O.B.’s baked goods are available year-round.
Monter’s team are feeders, that’s for sure. Even though we’d already stacked up a nice pile of goodies for purchasing, the crew was still offering up more free samples of cheesecake, and then tiramisu. It all looked delicious, but there’s a finite amount of stomach space in this world.
And that space is saved for B.Y.O.B.’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It’s perfect, topped with the sunny, sweet rounds of pineapple and cherries, and a brown sugar syrup that soaks the top, and infuses a sturdy yellow cake beneath with all its goodness.
There’s also room for Carrot Cake. B.Y.O.B. labels it as “Carrot Cake Bars.” That sounds demure, but what it is, is a mammoth slab of frosted carrot cake. Correction: carrot cake WITH raisins. Big, fat juicy raisins for an instant win. The dense, heavy slice also has a serious holiday flavor, with a strong cinnamon accent.
There’s lots of other goodies to try – the aforementioned cheesecake and tiramisu, cookies, vegan lemon blueberry bars… And there are plenty of markets ahead to try them all.
For more information, follow B.Y.O.B. on Facebook.
*Parking tip: The mall parking lot is filled with desperate, angry people and no parking spaces. Do not try to park there. Sneak over to Kroger and park a little farther away and walk a few steps more. There’s even a secret, trauma-free exit. Drive behind the Kroger and the road leads right out.
