Santa Fe Baking Co. is under new management, and while questions loom about what all that might mean, for now the pastries at the popular gathering spot are reportedly set to remain unchanged.
Former longtime owner Eric Struck says he can't talk about the deal because he signed a nondisclosure agreement, but new co-owner Andrew Perkins, a certified public accountant based in Santa Fe, confirmed the sale this morning.
Perkins, who says he's on vacation right now, wouldn't elaborate on what's in store for the business and referred SFR to the restaurant's manager and pastry chef, Carlos Lorenzo.
"The new owners took over two or three weeks ago," Lorenzo tells SFR by phone from the restaurant. "There aren't going to be many changes right away, except to reduce the size of the menu."
At least some employees at the restaurant aren't exactly pleased with how things are going. One worker, who didn't want us to publish her name, says that after the new owners promised not to reduce wages, some longtime employees have been docked to making minimum wage or something near above it.
"It's frustrating to see cooks who have been working here for many years at, like, $19 an hour, now making less. We have families, and this doesn't seem fair," the employee says. "They said they wouldn't do that." The employee also said that, due to what the new ownership called a "payroll error," some employees didn't get a check last Friday, their regular payday. Lorenzo said he has no involvement with the finances and referred SFR back to Perkins, who was unavailable for further comment.
In another interesting turn to the story, Perkins recently represented Struck in a protest hearing with the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue regarding unpaid gross receipt taxes and other issues with the Cordova Road business's finances.
Diners this week who presented gift cards at the café also report those are no longer being accepted as payment.
Santa Fe Reporter