Honeycomb Creamery, the small-batch ice cream shop that's been scooping up loyal fans on Massachusetts Avenue since 2016, is expanding right next door. The Cambridge company is opening Crisscross Bakehouse in the former Riverside Tattoo Company space at 1700A Massachusetts Ave., just steps from its existing storefront at 1702 Massachusetts Ave., with a menu built around savory and sweet pastries, coffee and tea.
The new bakery will take over the spot left behind when Riverside Tattoo Company closed last spring, according to MassLive. No firm opening date has been set, but Honeycomb Creamery says it wants to get the doors open as soon as possible, telling the outlet, “We look forward to opening the bakery doors at 1700A as soon as possible.” In the meantime, the shop is giving customers an early taste, offering previews of Crisscross Bakehouse's menu from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday through Sunday each week until the bakery officially opens.
The idea for Crisscross Bakehouse has apparently been on the mind of Honeycomb Creamery founder Kristen Rummel for a while. Per the same report, Rummel had long envisioned opening a bakery on Mass. Ave that applied Honeycomb's small-batch, made-from-scratch philosophy to pastry — essentially bringing the ice cream shop's approach to baked goods.
From Scoop Shop to Scratch-Made Bakery
Rummel founded Honeycomb Creamery in 2015, and it opened its first brick-and-mortar shop the following year. Eater Boston had described the proposed location in an April 2016 article. The shop was co-founded alongside partner Rory Halnon, according to Boston Magazine, which also reported that Honeycomb had already dipped a toe into baked goods a decade ago, rolling out Belgian liège-style waffles in two flavors, vanilla and chocolate-filled, with hand pies and cookies planned to follow inside its roughly 1,000-square-foot shop and kitchen.
That early bakery experiment came as liège waffles were gaining traction around Cambridge more broadly, with the magazine pointing to Zinneken's Waffles, Curio Coffee and Longfellows Coffee as other local spots riding the same trend. Crisscross Bakehouse appears to be a more permanent, dedicated continuation of that instinct to pair dessert with the kind of scratch-made baking Honeycomb has built its name on.
What's Powering the Ice Cream Next Door
Honeycomb Creamery's ice cream has always leaned on local sourcing, using regional dairy and ingredients for its ever-changing seasonal flavors. Its small-batch blends are made from scratch, according to WCVB, which also reported that seasonal flavors are pasteurized, churned and layered by hand, while year-round staples like birthday cake, honey lavender and milk chocolate stracciatella round out the menu.
Much of that ice cream starts with milk and cream from Mapleline Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts, a detail Eater Boston reported when the shop first opened. Honeycomb's treats have also made their way beyond the Cambridge storefront over the years, turning up at farmers markets, events and select stores around the region, per the same outlet. In an interview with Boston Voyager, Rummel explained that leaning on local farms naturally pushes much of Honeycomb's lineup toward the seasonal.
A Bakery Years in the Making
For now, the clearest way to get a sense of what's coming is to show up during the weekend preview hours Honeycomb has set up at the future Crisscross Bakehouse space. The company announced the bakery's opening in an Instagram post, where its bio touts “Tiny Batches,” local and mindful sourcing, and scratch-made products — the same values that have defined the ice cream shop since it first opened its doors.
Whether Crisscross Bakehouse ends up serving as a standalone bakery counter or something closer to an extension of Honeycomb's kitchen, the pairing puts two parts of Rummel's original vision under one roof on Massachusetts Avenue. Cambridge residents eager for a preview don't have to wait for a grand opening to find out what's baking next door.
