While brainstorming names for the bakery she planned on opening in her hometown of Strawn, then 21-year-old Lily Eisenmann and her friend happened upon the perfect moniker. “We found this word, and we just liked how it sounded. Then we [read] the definition, and it just fit,” says Lily.
The ancient Greek word was “Kairos” — the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words or movement — and both the word and its definition now hang on the wall inside Kairos Bakehouse, which opened earlier this year.
And fit it does. Lily originally envisioned opening a mobile bakery. That was until the opportunity for a permanent location crossed her path — the former St. Rose Church building on Route 47.
“I [had] bought my grandpa’s RV that we grew up camping in, so that was the plan originally,” she explains, “[but] it was getting a little bit complicated.” According to Lily, after deciding to purchase the church building, things just seemed to fall into place.
The church, established in 1939, required some work. With the help of her immediate and extended family, remodeling began. Lily painted the sanctuary, which would become the customer seating area. Creating a kitchen and addressing the plumbing took a little more expertise. Her cousins Sydney Parkhe, interior designer and owner of Texture + Tenon Interiors based in Champaign, and Jason Leman, a builder, both offered a helping hand.
“I would basically give [Sydney] a rough idea of what I wanted, and then she would come up with what it ended up being,” Lily says. “[It] ended up being a family affair. I have another cousin who owns Leman Builders, and he was our contractor.”
One of the additions was a drive-thru window for customers. “We figured being in such a small town, and being on 47, [it would] make it easy for them to stop. … Plus, there are a lot of farmers, and they’re always in a hurry,” she laughs.
Lily’s mom Abby helps with the books as the young entrepreneur learns the process in real time, and her sister Grace is the bakehouse’s chief barista and creator of its inventive drink menu and specials, like the popular s’mores macchiato on their summer menu.
“Our coffee menu, it’s like all the standards — lattes, macchiatos, smoothies, sparkling waters — then we get a little bit more interesting with a lot of our flavors. A lot of our syrups are house made,” says Lily. “The baking menu is the same. We have five or six things that are the same all the time, and then five or six things that are [seasonal].”
“We work well together,” adds Grace. “I think it’s nice to work with family, because you can say your opinions without feeling scared. … You can be creative and have ideas, and if they’re bad ideas, somebody will tell you, and then good ideas, we’re all going to work together to make [them] happen. I think that’s been one of the fun parts.”
While Grace handles the drink menu, Lily’s passion is in her role as pastry chef. “Customer favorites are cinnamon rolls, blueberry rolls, and the croissants and chocolate croissants,” she shares. “Croissants, you can’t find a lot around here. That’s been something people find interesting. [And] cinnamon rolls are always a hit.”
Croissants are her favorite creations, however. “They’re just fun to make. They’re challenging, but when you get them figured out, and they turn out well, you feel pretty accomplished.
“We’re trying to do a few more savory pastries,” Lily adds. “Usually, you just get the sweet stuff.” Savory menu items currently include bacon rolls and spinach feta rolls. She also plans to add sourdough at some point and eventually breakfast and lunch.
“That’s the plan down the road, but it’s a double-edged sword, with how busy we’ve been,” she says. “People have been supportive, but then also we’ve been so busy we haven’t had time to get to breakfast. [But] I feel like that’s a good problem to have.”
Lily adds that one benefit of waiting is to gather input from customers about what they would like to see offered. “It’s a process,” she explains. “We’ll get to that later [after we] get our feet under us a little bit.” Meanwhile, the community continues to support the fledgling establishment as it has since Lily opened its doors.
“People have come out of the woodwork to support us; [the] generosity that we’ve gotten from people has been really cool. I think that’s a big thing that made this possible,” says Grace. “Darin Bazzell from Knapp Kitchens had [furniture] in his warehouse, and he just donated [it] to us. … We’ve had a lot of that.”
Another source of support is their crew of 11, not counting Lily and Grace. “They’ve done amazing work so far,” Lily says. “They’ve all gone above and beyond. … I couldn’t be more grateful.” Grace echoes her sister’s sentiments. “The girls have stepped up. I can sing their praises all day long.”
Both sisters agree that the goal was to create a spot where people felt welcome to sit and stay as long as they wanted, either solo or with family and friends. They also hope in the future that Kairos will be able to host some community events, like a farmer’s market or Christmas market.
“With Strawn being such a small town, it’s been cool to bring in more people to see it, because it’s a sweet town,” says Grace. “We’ve had a lot of people telling us how they’ve traveled [here] … it’s been sweet to see and hear that people have cared to travel this far.”
Kairos Bakehouse
