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Just in time for the annual Festival of Lights event that attracts thousands of locals and tourists to downtown Riverside, the owner of the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa will open a cupcake shop and wine bar. 54 Degrees, the wine bar, is expected to open by Nov. 20. Casey's Cupcakes is scheduled to open Dec. 4. Both concepts -- wine bars and cupcake shops -- have grown in popularity in recent years, said Kelly Roberts, co-owner of the Mission Inn and its chief operating officer. "We always want to be innovative with new trends," Roberts said. At Casey's Cupcakes & Cappuccinos, in between the Mission Inn museum and Kelly's Spa along the pedestrian mall, 12 varieties of the sweet desserts all bear alliterative adjectives such as "Sassy Strawberry" and "Vivacious Vanilla" and will be sold for $3.25 each. Other flavors include carrot, red velvet, dark chocolate, banana, espresso, orange, pumpkin and cinnamon. The store is named after Kelly's daughter Casey Reinhardt, a former cast member of MTV's Laguna Beach show, who started baking cupcakes at the age of four, Roberts said. Reinhardt's own recipes will be used for the desserts, she said. Cupcake-centric shops started to find favor about five years ago after upscale restaurants added the dessert to their menus, said Gene Lawless, a vice president with hospitality and restaurant consulting firm Fessel International, based in Costa Mesa. At a cupcake (and little else) shop, you either have to sell a lot of cupcakes, or a few at a really good price, he said. 54 Degrees, a new wine bar adjacent to Duane's Steaks and Seafood that is using a portion of the lobby space, is scheduled to open Nov. 20 and will offer 32 different wines served by the glass. The number of wines is small compared to the Fleming's Steakhouse chain that offers 125 different wines by the glass, Lawless said. To appeal to wine enthusiasts, 54 Degrees would likely do well to offer 100 or more types of wines. Roberts said the wine menu could grow. "We're just starting out with some special wines," she said. Reach Kimberly Pierceall at 951-368-9552 or kpierceall@PE.com |
Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise Casey's Cupcakes & Cappuccinos is set to open Dec. 4 off of the Main Street pedestrian mall at downtown Riverside's Mission Inn. Also opening is 54 Degrees, a wine bar scheduled to debut Nov. 20. At right in the photo, workers put up Christmas decorations Monday. |
