Chocolate keto sponge (monk fruit, almond flour, egg, cream of tartar and ghee), filled with banana filling, topped with chocolate butter cream and a drop of sugar-free chocolate ganache. (Image: Thunder Hill Facebook)
Thunder Hill Bakery is a small bakery with big plans, operated out of Jenn Guimond’s house on an unassuming side road in Woodman’s Point, a community near Grand Bay-Westfield.
Recently it’s been gaining traction as the only specialty bakery in the area catering to people with restrictive diets. Now it has plans to expand into Uptown Saint John with a new bakery and cafe.
“We cover 246 different [dietary] restrictions,” says Guimond, the baker who originally started the business as a “laboratory situation where I could test out different recipes.”
Guimond caters to people with a variety dietary needs, including gluten-free, vegan, or the popular keto diet that features low carbs and high amounts of fats.
She started the business in a low-key way out of her home but word spread and her niche catering business became a hit. Guimond herself suffers from Celiac disease leaving her with a very restrictive diet.
“I started the keto diet for health reasons and that was even more restrictive,” she says. “I have a very strong sweet tooth, so I started playing around with recipes and figured out how to make some baking that appealed to people with restrictive diets. Then one friend told another friend and, here I am, building a bakery.”
Although Thunder Hill Bakery itself mainly focuses on specialty sweets, Guimond’s vision for the uptown café is more ambitious. The coffee will be from local roasters and they are applying to the Gluten-Free Food Program (GFFP) to be a certified gluten-free environment, meaning that there will be no cross–contamination.
“They are recognized by the Celiac Association of Canada and will help put our customer’s minds at ease,” said Guimond.
With the cafe, Guimond wants to offer people like her to eat out or pick up products in a worry-free environment.
“I can’t really eat at a lot of restaurants that are in Saint John,” says Guimond. “I want to be able to offer meals to go and people to be able to buy pizza kits, cake mixes and take it home. It’s something to help all of us that have been eating crappy gluten-free products to eat better and eat healthier too, because we do a lot of no-sugar baking.”
Guimond wants to serve great food, but she also wants to create a community around the café and fill it with music.
“During the daytime I want troubadours, people who tell stories, but play guitar at the same time … but at night time it’d be a different story. We’re involved with the local music festival scene. I would probably bring bands in to help promote whatever festivals or events were going on at that time.”
Guimond also states that she “very much promote[s] the punk and metal scene” for the younger crowd so expect diversity at Thunder Hill Café.
This isn’t the first café Guimond has had a part in running. From 1994–1995 she was one of four co-owners of a place called Madhatter’s on Water Street.
There are many things that still need to be worked out. She still hasn’t settled on a location but Guimond expects the café to be open by next June, with many staff members already hired.
“I hired people who want to be connected to their community and who want to help us not only offer a safe menu for those who have food restrictions, but also a safe space for anyone who’s just looking for a good cup of coffee,” she says.
Guimond wants to create an all-inclusive environment and venue for after-hours bands, open to people of all ages.
“If you are a customer, you come in, you hang out, you have a coffee in front of you, cool beans,” she says.
Though Guimond’s discovery of her Celiac disease is what kickstarted the beginning of Thunder Hill bakery, it is not the only affliction that has played a major role in her life. In addition to managing her Celiac disease, Guimond also has ADHD, PTSD, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
“I became comfortable talking about my mental illness a few years ago when I realized my friends were also suffering alone,” she says. “Once I learned to embrace and work with my unique brain my life began to improve drastically.”
Guimond is a classic serial entrepreneur. She says she has used her afflictions to help her pursue not only music festival management, but also baking and several other businesses over the past few years.
“I used to look at my mental illness as a deficit but now I see that it’s my gift,” she says. “I want to embrace my strengths, not regret them.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an online business news publication based in Saint John. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
