Two Bakeries, One Avenue: How West 32nd Kept Its Sweet Spots This Fall

Both of the big bakery stories on West 32nd Avenue this year came from operators with roots in Highland. In LoHi, the restaurant group that started with Root Down bought The Wooden Spoon in July. The 16-year-old bakery was close to shutting for good, and the new owners reopened it in August with nothing changed. At the Highland Square end, Hearth expanded its 32nd Avenue location into a French-style dessert shop. Hearth got its start at the Highlands Farmers' Market.

Both businesses had been part of the neighborhood for years, and both built on what was already on the avenue.

The bakery that nearly took its July break for good

The Wooden Spoon at 2418 W. 32nd Ave. closes for a break every July. This year, Westword reported, that break almost became permanent. Founders Jason and Jeanette Burgett had spent months looking for someone to buy the business, the brand and the space. Years of baking sessions that started at 1 a.m. had left them ready to step away.

The buyer was Edible Beats, the group behind Root Down, Linger and El Five. It announced the bakery would reopen under new management on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Founder Justin Cucci gave Westword a simple reason for stepping in. He lives nearby, he loves the bakery, and he didn't want to see a neighborhood favorite close.

That reason holds up when you look at where the group's restaurants are. Root Down opened in 2008 at 1600 W. 33rd Ave. and was Cucci's first restaurant, as he told the Denver Post. Linger is at 2030 W. 30th Ave., and El Five is on the fifth floor at 2930 Umatilla. The Denver Post says the purchase "earned the good graces of the Highland neighborhood," and notes that all three restaurants are in that same neighborhood. The bakery is a few blocks from restaurants the group has run for close to two decades.

What the new owners chose to leave alone

According to Westword's report on the sale, Edible Beats kept the Wooden Spoon name, the recipes, the equipment and all five employees. It then went looking for people to cover Jason's baking and Jeanette's front-of-house work. Cucci mentioned the blueberry scones and the carrot cake as items he especially valued. He also said he hoped to sell the bakery's goods more widely through the rest of the group.

He has stuck to that so far. In an October interview with the Denver Post, Cucci said no prices or recipes had changed and the team was still learning how the founders baked. He named two items to try: the blueberry scone, which has been on the menu for years, and a maple-bacon croissant added for fall.

Customers came back too. A September Denver Post story said the first couple of weeks after the takeover were slow. After that, the bakery started selling out of pastries every day. When the sale was announced, Westword listed the hours as 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. If you're going for a scone, go early.

At the west end, a café added a dessert counter

Near Highland Square, Hearth made a similar choice with a different business. It opened Hearth Patisserie on Aug. 27 at 3621 W. 32nd Ave., next door to the former Happy Cakes space and alongside the Highland café Hearth opened in 2025. Westword covered the opening.

Hearth's coffee shops are built around morning pastries, bread and coffee. The patisserie is built around afternoon and evening desserts. The opening menu included chouquettes and Paris-Brest filled with hazelnut praline, mousseline and pralinettes. It also had tarts in flavors that ran from strawberry with almond and mascarpone cream to coconut lime, plus gâteaux, flans, brownies and tiramisu. Pastry chef Kevin McCormick runs it. His 20-year career started at Per Se in New York and includes Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder. In Denver, he ran the pastry program at Baume Dessert Bar and was culinary director at Union Station.

The location matters for the same reason The Wooden Spoon's new owners do. Westword calls Highland "in many ways, the genesis of the Hearth brand," because the bakery first got going at the Highlands Farmers' Market. Founder Matt Quinlisk started Hearth as a wholesale operation and pop-up. It opened its first permanent shop in RiNo in 2022, then Uptown in November 2024, then Highland and Littleton in 2025. On 32nd Avenue, Hearth added a new kind of shop next to its existing café instead of opening another coffee bar. Quinlisk told Westword in 2025, "I did not intend to have a bunch of coffee shops."

So both ends of the avenue have a bakery that was kept or expanded by someone with history in the neighborhood.

Storefronts still change hands

Not every West 32nd storefront stayed open this fall. A block west of the patisserie, Natuur's Highlands location at 3712 W. 32nd Ave. closed on Sunday, Sept. 28. Westword reported that both of Natuur's Denver locations were closing. Natuur's website still lists the 32nd Avenue address, but the Westword report is the more recent information.

Turnover like this happens on any busy retail street. The Wooden Spoon story shows what it can look like when a neighbor steps in. If the July break had become a permanent closure, 2418 W. 32nd Ave. would have been on a closings list as well. It reopened with the same five employees and the same recipes.

Sunday, Oct. 25: Spend the day on 32nd

The Harvest Festival and Trick or Treat Street runs this Sunday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 5 p.m. on W. 32nd Ave. between Julian Street and Newton Street. It's free. It includes a costume contest, a pumpkin patch, a local band, a beer garden, kids' games and trick-or-treating at the businesses along that stretch. Hearth Patisserie at 3621 W. 32nd Ave. sits inside those blocks.

Here's one way to spend the day on the avenue, starting at the east end:

1. Morning at The Wooden Spoon, 2418 W. 32nd Ave. If the Wednesday-to-Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours from July still apply, Sunday is an open day. Try the blueberry scone and the fall maple-bacon croissant. Since the bakery has been selling out daily, earlier is better.
2. 2 p.m., Highland Square. Walk or drive west to the festival blocks between Julian and Newton for costumes, the pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating.
3. During the festival, Hearth Patisserie, 3621 W. 32nd Ave. It's on the festival stretch, so stop in for dessert before it closes for the day. The menu runs from a Paris-Brest to a slice of tiramisu.

Into December

The avenue's calendar continues after Halloween, and Edible Beats has another opening on the way.

• Pip Food + Drink, 2930 Umatilla St. BusinessDen reported that Edible Beats is opening a tapas spot in the former Sushi Ronin space, priced lower than El Five upstairs. It will be the group's fourth LoHi restaurant. On Oct. 13, the Denver Post said it was set to open in the next five to seven weeks, which points to sometime between mid-November and early December.
• Holiday in the Highlands, Saturday, Dec. 5, noon to 3 p.m. The West Highland Neighborhood Association calendar lists it at 3737 W. 32nd Ave., with Santa photos and horse-drawn wagon rides. The page still says the date is to be confirmed, so check it again closer to the day.
• Denver BAZAAR LoHi holiday market, Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Denver BAZAAR schedule lists this free market at 2138 W. 32nd Ave. That's in LoHi, a few blocks east of The Wooden Spoon.

By December, the Root Down group will have two new places on the LoHi end: a rescued bakery on 32nd Avenue and a tapas bar on Umatilla. At the Highland Square end, Hearth will have its café and its patisserie side by side on the same block.

Want to know what's happening around 32nd Avenue, which new spots are opening and which favorites are still going strong? The Fox Group follows these neighborhood changes closely and is always happy to talk about Highland, whether or not you're planning a move.