A hidden gem bakery is set to close in Durham. Here’s the last day you can go

One of the Triangle’s most distinctive and personal bakeries will close its doors this weekend.

The South Durham pastry shop Chef Chick’s Bakery will have its last day of business Sept. 28. Owner Margaret Szewczyk announced the closing earlier this month, just as the bakery celebrated its two-year anniversary.

After two decades in corporate accounting, Szewczyk launched Chef’s Chick in 2022, its name taken from a near pronunciation of her own last name. The bakery specialized in the breads and pastries of her native Poland.

“The decision was not something I came to lightly,” Szewczyk wrote in a message taped to the bakery door. “As many of you know this is my lifelong dream, a journey that began before I opened the brick and mortar, and something I could not have imagined would have such a huge impact on me. The decision is a personal one, and I hope I can ask you all for some time before sharing more. What I do want to share right now is I’m not done; this is just the first chapter! Most of us have a deep and lifelong connection with food, family ties, one that last a lifetime, and that’s how I know I’m not done.”

Even within the accomplished ranks of Triangle bakeries, Chef’s Chick offered a fresh perspective, sometimes the only shop baking and serving certain breads and pastries.

Chef’s Chick started as an in-home bakery but expanded to its brick-and-mortar shop in 2022, opening in the Meridian Corporate Center. Amid the office parks near RTP, the bakery was something of a hidden gem.

“Every single one of you who have come through the doors, called, contacted me in any way have had an impact on Chef Chick’s Bakery and me personally, and will continue to do so,” Szewczyk said in the bakery’s farewell. “I built out the brand, the menu, and the space to create a community and family environment. Because of all of you, my family and my community have grown in ways unimaginable, you’ve allowed me to be part of your lives, and I do not have the proper words to thank you. I hope I will get a change to do so.”

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