Franny's Cup & Saucer
photos, story, and illustrations by Cozette Ellis
During the short drive through tiny downtown Point Arena, one can’t help but notice a small pastel blue storefront nestled between two slightly larger buildings. Across the top of the exterior, hand-painted pink signage spells out “Franny’s” above two grey doves holding a large banner with “Cup and Saucer” in pink cursive. Two planter boxes, one on the window and one on the sidewalk, hold an assortment of pink and purple flowers. The large picture window features a red-hatted gnome, huge toy mushrooms, and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. All this before you see, smell, and taste the glory that awaits you inside.
Operated by mother and daughter power-duo Barbara Burkey and Frances (Franny) Robbings, this small blue bakery has been a feature of Point Arena’s food scene, and its greater community, since 2006. Before Franny’s Cup & Saucer opened, Barbara ran a bakery in the same location for eight years prior, under the name Point Arena Bakery.
Due to social distancing restrictions, I interviewed Franny and Barbara over the phone, but still drove out to Point Arena to take pictures of the stocked pastry cases. I left Boonville on a blistering Tuesday in late June, eager to leave the dry valley for a cool coastal breeze. Although the bakery was closed at 3pm when I arrived, Franny and Barbara had been there since the morning, cooking, baking, packing, and prepping the pastry cases. Barbara unlocked the door for me with a masked welcome and invited me inside the small store. The interior is bright pink (to fend off the grey coastal weather) and filled with delights such as a refrigerated case holding cupcakes, puddings, and macaroons, a 4-tiered cookie case, and multiple shelves packed with merchandise. It’s eclectic in the best way possible. I felt like a kid in a candy store, probably because I was.
The remainder of the shop is devoted to kitchen/pantry space. Peering over the front counter, I watched Barbara package enchiladas while Franny mixed a deep purple icing. Through the kitchen and out the back door is a small garden with be-flowered bushes, an apple and a lemon tree, and a small picnic table featuring another gnome. It’s so easy to feel (and smell) the creativity, love, and passion of these two bakers. Their affection for their craft is imbued into every nook and cranny of the shop.
For these women, baking is in their bones. Barbara started young, at the age of eight, making cookies with her Suzie Homemaker light-bulb oven and later starting a cooking club with her neighborhood friends. She graduated from Easy Bake Oven school and began working in restaurants as a young adult. She spent eight years in Paris, starting and running a tea room selling both savory and sweet items, and eventually returned to California, where she opened and operated a bakery in Tomales for another eight years.
“I just always did it,” Barbara said. “I always kind of wonder when I’m going to grow up and be what I’m supposed to be, but at this point I guess I’m supposed to be a baker . . . It’s not a job, it’s just really fun and exciting.” There are confections sold at Franny’s Cup & Saucer that Barbara has been making for over forty years. While one might assume that this could eventually become tedious, Barbara explains that she continues to be entranced with the process, that each product is an opportunity to learn technique and build skill.
Franny, described as the driving force behind the store’s creativity, has been involved in the family business since the age of eight as well, working behind the counter at her family’s bakery in Tomales, and then again in Point Arena when the family moved. Up until the age of 22, though, (when she and Barbara launched Franny’s Cup & Saucer), Franny had never done any of the hands-on baking. She explains, “It was just something that my parents did already. But I did a lot of cooking. It wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I started baking, once I moved out. There was this need for it.” Franny mentioned that, as a young adult, she used baking as a way to immerse herself in a familiar and comforting environment. It helped mitigate the loneliness and homesickness that she experienced when she moved out. The eventual inspiration for returning to Point Arena and co-opening Franny’s Cup & Saucer bakery came in part from restaurant co-workers, who urged her to consider moving from the front of the house to the back of the house after trying her delectable sweet treats.
While Franny’s Cup & Saucer has been a staple of the community for over a decade, many businesses are struggling to stay open during this time of crisis. Yet the global pandemic seemed very far away when I saw the wealth of goodies Franny and Barbara were preparing to sell. Upon expressing some surprise at this, they explained to me that the community was really the backbone of the business, that the locals had been stepping up and supporting one another.
Barbara has advocated strongly for innovation and adaptability: “We’ve pivoted in our menu selection to add a lot more savory items and a lot more dinner items, and those have been so well received … We make some really nice dishes that people can take home and reheat, and they still look good and taste great … What we’re not selling during day-to-day business at our retail gift store, we’re making up with our savory items.” This creativity and flexibility, combined with the renowned quality of the baked goods, has ensured their survival as the county has grappled with COVID-19 challenges over the past few months.
Innovation and out-of-the-box thinking is nothing new at Franny’s Cup & Saucer. While I was there, the bakers received a container of local goat cheese that Barbara planned to make into a cheesecake. I was shown edible flowers that get baked into donuts, and I was tempted by menu items such as the Raspberry Brooklyn Blackout Mini Cake, or the Green Tea Cake, Jasmine Mousse and Raspberry Cream slice. Franny explained to me with a laugh that a lot of these creations come from having a short attention span. “I like being able to work on things over and over again until it’s really perfect, but at the same time … I want to make something new. It’s exciting for me to keep changing things and have things be different every day.”
Franny also discussed a fundamental business choice that she and her mother support—the importance of working with local, organic, and seasonal ingredients wherever possible, while keeping an affordable price point for all audiences. Franny continued, “What people really like is something that has a neat story behind it. We do a lot of stuff with huckleberries. As soon as people hear that they’re wild foraged … or special to this area, they get really excited!”
Along with neat stories and interesting products, Barbara emphasized the importance of keeping the dollars within the community. Much like the ocean it borders, Point Arena has had its ebb and flow over the years—storefronts opening and closing, local housing being outfitted for short-term AirBnB rentals, and the gradual collapse of the fishing industry. Barbara, also the vice mayor of Point Arena, has been working on legislative changes that make it easier for area small businesses to get up and running. It’s a good thing, too, as the region is apparently experiencing an uptick, even with COVID-19. As the county re-opens, tourists have been journeying through Point Arena to visit the Stornetta lands. “We never forget our locals, and they’re our first priority, but now we have to cater to tourists, too. A lot of our tourists return. Every time they come up here, they’ll come back to Franny’s and I’ll remember them, and they’ll be so pleased.”
Here Barbara touched on a point that may be a large part of the continued success of Franny’s Cup & Saucer—the business serves as an avenue for positive relationship building between staff and customers, regardless of whether the customer is a tourist or a local. “I can’t wait to see who is going to walk through that door next and get to know them … It’s just so much fun. I never get over it,” Barbara enthused. I certainly enjoyed walking through that door, both on the way in with my notebook and camera, and on the way out with a cookie and a paper bag of fresh-picked cherries from a neighbor that Franny packed for me. With goodies like those in hand, it’s no surprise I’m already planning my return.
black forest mini-cake
chocolate-dipped cherries, devils-food cake, whipped cream, chocolate ganache, chocolate shavings
panna cotta
vanilla bean pudding and local berries
carrot cake cupcake
candied flowers, cream cheese frosting, sprinkles
green tea cake, jasmine mousse and raspberry cream slice
‘nuf said
s’mores mini-cake
graham cracker cake, chocolate mousse, marshmallow meringue, graham cracker crumbs
Franny’s Cup & Saucer
213 Main St, Point Arena, CA 95468
frannyscupandsaucer.com | (707) 882-2500
Wednesday–Saturday 8am–2pm | Sunday 8am–12pm
Cozette Ellis grew up in Anderson Valley and is a third year Design student at the University of California, Davis. Her passions include illustration, 3D design, graphic design, and sustainable design.
