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All foods from JP\u2019s Pastry, a bakery with four locations in North Carolina, are gluten free.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of JP\u2019s Pastry<\/p>\n
A North Carolina bakery known for its gluten-free items is expanding to a new location in Durham.<\/p>\n
JP\u2019s Pastry<\/a>, which now has four shops across Benson, Greenville, Raleigh and Durham, officially opened the doors to its Bull City location a few weeks ago, but will hold a grand opening celebration in March.<\/p>\n The expansion to Durham was fueled by the bakery\u2019s desire to be closer to its customers, Iz Flores, who co-owns the bakery with his husband, Joe Parker, told The News & Observer in a call.<\/p>\n \u201cThinking about the population centers, Durham just seemed to be a good fit because it\u2019s still centrally located,\u201d Flores said. \u201cThere\u2019s still a pretty big population center in Durham itself. But then you also have Chapel Hill, you have Orange County, Chatham County. We\u2019re now a little closer to folks that are in Alamance County, in Greensboro.\u201d<\/p>\n About JP\u2019s Pastry<\/p>\n The idea for the bakery came from Parker, who has a wheat allergy, Flores said. Parker, a Benson native, started by baking gluten-free cupcakes for himself, his family and friends.<\/p>\n He was working as a dentist but left the practice when the bakery, which was founded as JP\u2019s Cupcakery, started to take off, Flores told The News & Observer. Parker, who graduated from the UNC Adams School of Dentistry, is a self-taught baker, but attended courses at the San Francisco Baking Institute.<\/p>\n Around 2015, the first brick-and-mortar JP\u2019s Pastry location opened in Benson, as the business was too much for the home kitchen to handle. JP\u2019s Pastry\u2019s baked goods, including cupcakes, scones and muffins, were sold at local businesses including the now-closed Caf\u00e9 de los Muertos<\/a>. But JP\u2019s soon made agreements with grocers<\/a> including Whole Foods Market and Weaver Street Market, which still carry the bakery\u2019s items.<\/p>\n The second location opened in Greenville in the fall of 2024, and the third in Raleigh in May 2025.<\/p>\n Moving forward, JP\u2019s Pastry is looking to open a fifth location in Wilmington<\/a> later this year. They expect that the bakery\u2019s gluten-free and vegan options will appeal to tourists.<\/p>\n \u201cWe find that one of the main things that people are going to be looking for when they\u2019re planning their vacations is making sure that they\u2019re going to have places that they can go eat,\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n JP\u2019s Pastry is a certified gluten-free bakery by the Gluten Intolerance Group. Every item the bakery sells \u2014 whether it\u2019s a batch of Hawaiian rolls, cinnamon rolls or biscuits, a whole pie, or a single brownie or cheesecake bar \u2014 is made without gluten.<\/p>\n Baked goods and prepared meals are made in Benson and delivered to JP\u2019s Pastry shops each day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe variety of products that we offer are things that go beyond just a dessert or a piece of bread,\u201d Flores said. \u201cOur key products are things that people use all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Individual pastries such as muffins, brownies, cheesecake bars and cupcakes are around $5 on JP\u2019s Pastry\u2019s website<\/a>. Cake squares cost around $7. Loaf breads, packs of biscuits and hamburger buns are around $10-$14.<\/p>\n JP\u2019s Pastry opens new Durham location<\/p>\n The Durham bakery has already opened its doors, but a grand opening event is scheduled for Saturday, March 14.<\/p>\n Visitors can enjoy free samples all day, but the first 25 people in line when the doors open at 10 a.m. get a tote bag filled with treats. JP\u2019s will also give away a $100 gift card at 10:30 a.m. and $50 gift cards every 30 minutes from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.<\/p>\n JP\u2019s Pastry\u2019s Durham location is at 7072 Highway 751, Suite 108.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Raleigh News & Observer<\/p>\n JP\u2019s Pastry\u2019s Durham location is already open but will host a grand opening event March 14. Courtesy of JP\u2019s Pastry <\/p>\n
A vegan snickerdoodle cookie sandwich from the gluten-free bakery JP\u2019s Pastry. Courtesy of JP\u2019s Pastry JP\u2019s Pastry menu<\/p>\n
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