<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)
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