Never miss a story
Sign up for our free daily morning email...
...and afternoon text update
×
austonia newsletter
Get connected with our daily update
Most viewed
Jessica and Janessa Tomberlin are the co-owners of Crema Bakery in South Austin. (Kristin Finan)
Publisher's note: Austonia has donated $100 to Crema's community sack lunch program, via their @cremabakerycafe Venmo. Feel free to join us in support of this community service.
Colorful paper hearts adorn the walls and meticulously decorated cookies proclaim adorable phrases like "Love you a latte."
At Crema Bakery and Café on Brodie Lane in South Austin, Valentine's Day is more than just the sweet shop's biggest holiday of the year. It's also a tribute to the love that co-owners Jessica and Janessa Tomberlin share for each other.
<p>"We're really blessed in a lot of ways, but none of it would be happening if we didn't have each other," said Jessica Tomberlin. "I feel like our feelings for each other are reflected in our business and our product and our relationships with other people, too. A lot of partners are good cop, bad cop. We're not like that. We're just two halves of a whole."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1420" data-rm-shortcode-id="f7391770c3c2e694524aff6c62cd89b1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYxODY3Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzcxMjM0Mn0.kQdC-EY1QKab5SBzy1qtyA4pEPX25vDDqhPWAAKGdPc/img.png?width=980" data-width="1896" id="f2076" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Valentine's-themed cookies are among the offerings at Crema Bakery in South Austin. (Kristin Finan)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>The pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to local restaurants, and Crema is no exception; the Tomberlins credit loyal friends and customers with keeping the bakery's doors open. As a result, the Tomberlins have been able to support the local community through free sack lunches, which they make available to anyone who calls in to request one—no questions asked. Since March 2020, they've distributed more than 1,500 free lunches.</p><p>"We just saw a need," said Janessa Tomberlin. "It was just incredible the number of people that were like, 'I'm hungry.' Nobody should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from in this country of all places. We felt like it was the very least we could do to help our community and be a place for people to have a little bit of food security."</p><p>Jessica, 42, and Janessa, 37, met when Jessica opened Crema in 2013 and hired Janessa, who had a background in the corporate coffee world. The two quickly became friends and eventually began dating. In October 2017, they tied the knot at Tiny T Ranch in Garfield, on the outskirts of Austin. They didn't have a cake but instead opted for hand pies, which they made themselves. Jessica Tomberlin said the bakery relishes being part of all types of special occasions.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="427" data-rm-shortcode-id="65a3a30a55ac3836aa1cdfbc0402f61e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYxODY0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MjE1NjgzMH0.lXomTm--IMkeeUcyYh0V8JPR1Z4xoRgPGnOInKiQXn8/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="640" id="cdcfc" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Janessa and Jessica Tomberlin and daughter, Molly. (Seduit Photography)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>"We love that we can make somebody's engagement party cake and then do their wedding cake and then a baby shower and then a kid's first birthday," she said. "We love being part of people's lives and part of their families."</p><p>As business partners, Janessa runs the front of house, interacting with customers, while Jessica deals more with the product side, although, "being a small business, nothing is ever that simple," Jessica Tomberlin said.</p><p>"We teach our baristas how to decorate cupcakes because you never know who is going to need to do what," Jessica Tomberlin said. "That's the essence of a family-owned business–everybody does it for the good of the whole and doesn't really focus on themselves. That's the way Janessa and I have always been, too."</p><p>Jessica Tomberlin said 2020 brought challenges the small bakery, which is currently open for takeout and curbside, could never have ever anticipated.</p><p>"Any time you have a small business you're always on the edge of everything falling apart, so we've faced a lot of that, but in the last year it's just been a despair that I've never felt before in my life, just not knowing what's going to happen," Jessica Tomberlin said. "Every time I get down where I think I can't get any lower, Janessa picks me up. That's probably the thing I've come to appreciate the most is just that we complemented each other in that way. When one of us can't go on, the other one finds the strength to do it for both of us."</p><p>Janessa Tomberlin said Jessica "is like my backbone when I don't have one."</p><p>The two have also needed to stay strong for their daughter, Molly, 10, who they call the "littlest cremling" and who, despite not having any social media accounts, has a big following through <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cremabakerycafe/" target="_blank">Crema's social media</a>.</p><p>"All these people recognize her, so every time she's up here people like, 'Hey, Molly!'" Jessica Tomberlin said. "She likes to run curbside because people always tip her."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1416" data-rm-shortcode-id="50aa8d72b6c1254dd29e1738c87c3776" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYxODY2OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjEyODA1MH0.jOJWiJOcMVGY_tH4ABVqBNQXwQQWpAZ4f43HXW-AG6I/img.png?width=980" data-width="1896" id="e962a" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Crema Bakery in South Austin offers a variety of baked goods for takeout and curbside service. (Kristin Finan)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>In addition to the free lunch program, the Tomberlins have done fundraisers for causes they are passionate about, such as LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter.</p><p>"We love being the liberal, hippie, queer-owned bakery. We love being able to embrace those old Austin ideals and give people an outlet for being able to help wherever they can," Jessica Tomberlin said. "We put our politics and our positions out there, which a lot of businesses don't do to be safe, but we also feel like if you can be an advocate for the causes that matter, you should."</p><p>With its challenges, the past year has also brought some surprise hits, including a family meal program early in the pandemic and, currently, hot cocoa bombs, which frequently sell out. Once the world begins to open back up, Jessica Tomberlin said, she looks forward to eating out, having some date nights and hopefully resuming a new brunch restaurant project at South First and William Cannon that was in the works before the pandemic.</p><p>No matter what happens, though, Jessica Tomberlin said she knows she, Janessa and Molly will be able to weather it together.</p><p>"I feel hopeful right now in a way that I haven't in months and months," Jessica Tomberlin said. "There's been a lot of love this year. There's been a lot of sadness, but there's been a lot of love."</p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on local businesses: </strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/naus-enfield-drug" target="_self">Austin's iconic Nau's Enfield Drug hopes see to the business return to its heyday amid pandemic woes</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyOTQ2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzQ5Nzg0OX0.2oyPK_1PevdI10gfAMpyzRRq_6d7z6szPt91NjjE8ys/img.jpg?width=1200&coordinates=156%2C271%2C0%2C169&height=800" id="7d99d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b553cd002f20b4d0489d08443001dcf6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="800" />Lambert Labay, 81, is the owner of Nau's Enfield Drug, where he has worked as a pharmacist since 1963. He and his wife, Kathleen Labay, purchased the store in 1971. (Laura Labay)
From Your Site Articles
- 11 Austin restaurants to buy to-go Valentine's Day meals - austonia ›
- Hidden oasis, Aba, on South Congress grows in popularity - austonia ›
- Music Lane in South Congress brings new business to Austin ... ›
- Ubuntu Life, Austin black business makes Oprah's favorites - austonia ›
- 10 iconic Austin businesses that have closed due to COVID-19 (and ... ›
Keep Reading
Show less
Popular
Austin’s iconic Nau’s Enfield Drug hopes see to the business return to its heyday amid pandemic woes
25 January
(Kristin Finan/Austonia)
First dates over frosty milkshakes. Family outings for juicy hamburgers.
Nau's Enfield Drug, which opened in 1951, has been a lot of things to a lot of people over its long history in Austin.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1410" data-rm-shortcode-id="b1e743a5c79addf437188d2702769e9b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyOTUwNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzQwNjc4OH0.69JbIZthApxFrG17iKFGW2ViwY-REFY7OLh-hSeP0Ms/img.png?width=980" data-width="1900" id="6a73a" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Laura Labay, manager of Nau's, at the store this month. Labay's parents, Lambert and Kathleen, purchased the store in 1971. (Kristin Finan)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>For Laura Labay, it's a place that represents the shared dream of her parents, who purchased the business in 1971 just before she was born. It's the place where she grew up helping wipe down sticky booths by the soda fountain and where she still works, side by side with her 81-year-old dad, Lambert Labay, who, in addition to being the owner, has been a pharmacist there since 1963.</p><p>"Everyone's heard of Nau's. We're one of the top 10, top 5 businesses that Austin has always been unique for," said Laura Labay, who has managed the store for 23 years. "And we're one of a handful of businesses that still have that community connection and that history."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="3024" data-rm-shortcode-id="0db2d513177a80f98d37053ce27cdd3f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyOTQ2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2ODA4NDM2MX0.FO9xKd1_3IYoqFGTmIIXKEw-87BMk7PEMnINpmcTpwY/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="4032" id="464e6" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Kathleen and Lambert Labay at Nau's soda fountain in spring 1971, just after they'd purchased the store. Kathleen Labay was pregnant with daughter Laura at the time. (Laura Labay)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>Now, due to a series of unfortunate events including the coronavirus pandemic, it's also another Austin institution that's struggling to survive.</p><p>"We've talked, unfortunately, a few times about closing. We're still trying to make ends meet," she said, adding that a combination of an emergency restaurant remodel and the pandemic made 2020 the year where "utterly our world crushed."</p><p>The Labays own Nau's, the business, but not the building in the Clarksville neighborhood where it's famously located at 1115 West Lynn St. In early 2020, prior to the onset of the pandemic, the cafe portion of the business closed because the property needed some updates including a new air conditioner. Due to the pandemic, however, many of those updates stalled—while the pharmacy and drug store have remained open, the once-famous café has now been shuttered for about a year.</p><p>"I really hope that comes back because Austin has lost so many iconic places," said Anne Rapp, a neighborhood resident and Nau's customer, after purchasing a lottery ticket inside the store. "It's places like Nau's that make Austin special and maintain its soul. I think the soul of a town is as important as anything."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1320" data-rm-shortcode-id="4b2ca2d6bb62edceb53ff23988f27ef3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyOTUyNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTU0NzQwN30.iOm5SgKan84RDh63W_FfXKS5OTVzxE4o_JWGDCkpPj4/img.png?width=980" data-width="1896" id="407f0" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">A sign at the entrance of Nau's welcomes four-legged visitors. (Kristin Finan) </small></p><p><br/></p><p>Rapp, who works in the film industry, said Nau's "reputation precedes it a little bit."</p><p>"I've had many times when big players in Hollywood, from Los Angeles to New York, come here for Austin Film Festival for the weekend," Rapp said. "On more than one occasion, I'll be knocking around with a lot of them and they'll say, 'Can you take me to Nau's? I've heard they have great breakfast.'"</p><p>Laura Labay, 49, agreed that the café and soda fountain, which featured never-frozen hamburger patties and from-scratch shakes and sodas, are the heartbeat of Nau's, estimating that sales are down 80% over typical years, "if not worse."</p><p>"I could put in a modern-day drink dispenser and modern coolers, but why would anyone come in for that?" she said. "They come in because it looks like a soda fountain. The café is really the driving force that is going to be our salvation."</p><p>Right now you can't sink your teeth into a juicy burger or saddle up at the soda fountain, and the store's selection of nostalgic candies, unique soaps and fun gift items is also limited due to difficulties sourcing those items amid the pandemic, but you can still pick up a newspaper, grab a prescription or even arrange a home delivery if you live nearby.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-3x2">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="800" data-rm-shortcode-id="5d6f3e83f46eb7ab27b1817fc8ccca42" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUyOTUzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDc4ODk4OH0.DU44ONyP3FOcrmV9lEKZhdAyefuM6OSrDRjywH8Uz2k/img.jpg?width=1200&coordinates=164%2C109%2C0%2C337&height=800" data-width="1200" id="58321" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Lambert Labay, 81, is the owner of Nau's Enfield Drug, where he has worked as a pharmacist since 1963. He and his wife, Kathleen Labay, purchased the store in 1971. (Laura Labay)</small></p><p><br/></p><p><strong></strong>Laura Labay said many of Nau's customers are more like family, adding that the neighborhood rallied to support the business after her father suffered a heart attack in 2016.<span></span><br/></p><p>"It was just an outpouring of good faith from our neighbors, all walks of life were trying to help us, and they did. People have memories from growing up here and this is part of their lives," she said. "I don't think you could say that about your neighborhood Starbucks."</p><p>Laura Labay said she welcomes anyone who is interested in the café revitalization efforts or in helping to keep Nau's going, in general, to contact her directly.</p><p>"Most people would have given up, but I have a dream that this is going to come back to its heyday before my father retires," she said. "I just don't want people to forget about us. We're going to be back, and be better."</p>
Keep Reading
Show less
