Perfect Perks adds bakery

Published 10:34 pm Monday, October 7, 2013

Challah bread (left) and apricot scones are just two freshly-baked options at the new Rachel K’s bakery and Perfect Perks Café.  MONA MOORE | DAILY NEWS

Challah bread (left) and apricot scones are just two freshly-baked options at the new Rachel K’s bakery and Perfect Perks Café.
MONA MOORE | DAILY NEWS

In the four short weeks since Perfect Perks Café opened, there hasn’t been a lull in business.

Offering a wide array of coffee blends, frappes, smoothies and lattes, the Highland Drive café is an expansion of the coffee hut Clint and Christina MacMiller opened in the Pamlico Plaza parking lot.

Last week, Perfect Perks teamed up with Rachel Midgette and added Rachel K’s Bakery to the café.

“One of my employees told me about her,” said Christina MacMiller. “It was like a match made in heaven.”

As moms and entrepreneurs who are about the same age, Christina said she and Midgette share the same vision. They plan to eventually introduce sandwiches to the menu.

Christina found Midgette at the Saturday Market, where she had become a staple and built a following with her signature lemon almond twists.

Midgette comes in every morning at 2 a.m. and starts baking the artisan breads and pastries.

“When I come in here in the morning, it smells so good,” said Madison Mills, a barista at Perfect Perks.

And the baked goods taste as good as they look. Mills said she planned to start devoting part of her paycheck to all of the fresh goods she wanted to consume.

Christina said Midgette sells out of her cinnamon rolls, lemon almond twits and chocolate croissants nearly every day. Christina has an everything bagel every morning.

“She makes amazing New York bagels,” Christina said. “She’s gone to the King Arthur Flour School of Baking in Vermont. She’s very much an artisan baker. We don’t do cupcakes. We have beautiful chocolate-filled croissants and she makes her own almond paste for her cinnamon rolls.”

The bakery is the newest addition, but it won’t be the last. Christina plans to add bubble teas and pour-over coffee.  Bubble teas are served cold and have little tapioca balls in them.

Pour-over coffee is made one cup at a time and is the latest trend in Seattle.

Perfect Perks devotes Friday nights to the younger set, with music by K-Os.

“They’re adorable and really cute because they work for soda,” Christina said of the local band. “They’re so much fun. Such a neat band to have here.”

Soon, the café will start offering frappe tastings, similar to wine tastings where a small fee will get you several samples to try.

“I thought it would be a nice idea for the kids,” Christina said.

Rachel K’s Bakery and Perfect Perk’s Café are located at 1249 Highland Drive, across from Vidant Beaufort Hospital. Café hours are Monday through Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, Yelp and Twitter.