Celebrate the peach cobbler that launched a Minneapolis bakery known for giving back

Lutunji Abram is beating the odds — and helping others to do the same.

According to the National Restaurant Association, three out of five restaurants fail in the first five years. But Abram, the owner of Lutunji’s Palate Bakery & Café in Minneapolis, is celebrating six years in business since she first started selling the peach cobbler that started it all.

Her namesake restaurant is famous not only for its delicious food but also for providing much-needed opportunities.

It got its start in an unlikely way—when Abram visited with a local pastor in 2018.

“I brought a slice of my peach cobbler to a meeting with Pastor Jeff Cowmeadow at Calvary Baptist Church in Minneapolis to talk about renting space in the church for the GED portion of my teen charter school,” said Adam.

“The school was part of my organization, Voices of Effective Change . But once Pastor Cowmeadow tried my cobbler, he encouraged me to switch gears. He told me the school will come to fruition, but you’re selling this cobbler!”

Rev. Cowmeadow offered Adam use of the church’s commercial kitchen. Abram began selling her cobbler at the Whittier Farmer’s Market. Soon she was approached by North Market with a request to sell her cobbler in the Minneapolis grocery store.

Abram moved into wholesale baking and today her gourmet peach or pecan cobbler and a peach vegan option is available at Lunds & Byerlys in downtown Minneapolis as well as select Hy-Vee and Cub Foods locations.

Abram credits the support from Rev. Cowmeadow with jump starting her business.

“When we are working together in harmony, purpose is often discovered,” she said.

In May of 2022, she moved beyond wholesale to retail,  opening Lutunji’s Palate Bakery & Café at 1400 Park Avenue South in Minneapolis.

The menu offers everything from breakfast egg sandwiches, a roast beef omelet and waffles to burgers, salads and lots of vegan options.

Then there’s the dessert menu! Of course, Abram’s peach cobbler is the star of the show, but the list of sweet treats includes old-school macaroons, a red velvet brownie and “buttery buttery” specialty cakes and breads.

Abram wants her business to serve as a prime example of the power of passing on kindness.

Just as Abram was encouraged and supported, she, too provides opportunities by empowering others with a paycheck and a place to, as she calls it, “life skill” together. Abram says impact and opportunity are literally and figuratively baked into her business model with her non-profit Voices of Effective Change as the “mother company.”

Voices of Effective Change provides direct support for teen moms and dads in the form of transportation, education, employment and connections. Having been a teen mom herself, Abram understands the challenges.

“I have the gift of breakthrough. I know I can help them get to the next level, despite the challenges of parenthood,” she said.

Lutunji’s Palate also partners with local organizations Emerge and Twin Cities Rise to connect with and provide jobs for local people facing poverty and men returning from incarceration. She helps them master culinary and customer service skills and simply dream.

“When I work with these folks, I’m able to hear more about their passion and purpose and figure out how to get them there,” said Abram. “I was blessed with parents who were very involved. I also had the guidance of leaders in my community in North Minneapolis who said, ‘What are you so good at, you would do it for free?’”

The public is invited to celebrate the sweetness that Lutunji’s Palate has provided the Twin Cities since its inception six years ago. Join her for a 6th Anniversary Back-to-School event on September 15th, from Noon to 5 pm in front of Lutunji’s Palate in Minneapolis.

The community is invited to enjoy free food, an education panel, resource tables, and performances. Attendees are also asked to help schoolchildren in need by dropping off classroom supplies like notebooks, folders, pens, markers, crayons, etc.