By Meg Schmitt 

schmittm@grinnell.edu

Yummy Yumi’s mission statement describes the local bakery as a “place to escape the stress of everyday life” and there’s no better way than through a pecan roll. One of the bakery’s specialties (and their first recommendation) since it opened in 2008, these pecan rolls are a hot, sticky mess (in all the right ways)!

Situated right next to the music store on the block of 4th and Broad Street, the bakery draws you in with their catchy slogan “Check out our buns!” as if you needed any incentives after smelling the cinnamon, sugar and chocolate wafting out the door. Walking through this smell-good portal takes you into a friendly jungle scene, the walls decorated with swinging monkeys, chattering parakeets and towering trees surrounding the baked goods spread.

Yumi’s owners Sam and Heidi Rockwell wait patiently while you peruse the menu of fresh fruit, frozen yogurt smoothies, coffees, deli sandwiches and the spread of pastries and delicacies. They’ll offer their recommendations, customer favorites and tidbits of the latest town news while you scan your abundant options.

The latest morsel of information is the bakery’s coming changes —Yumi’s will be moving over Christmas to a new location in town and will be ready for the V-day rush by February.

“We’re going to be moving to a new location, which is more in the area where the college kids already hang out,” Heidi Rockwell said.

In the meantime, the bakery offers a wide array of cookies, like their bestseller monster cookies, and pastries, like the scrumptious almond sticks. There’s a pastry for every taste here, from Nutella-infused pinwheels to fruity scones and Danishes, and hot or cold drinks to accompany them. All of the individual pastries range from 75 cents to just under two dollars, and the bakery is well-known about the town for its morning coffees.

But it’s not the coffees and cookies that brought the Rockwells into baking.

“Cakes are where I like to be,” Heidi Rockwell said. And cakes are certainly where Yumi’s is at—the bakery has earned a local reputation for creative event cakes, making everything from Florida’s to Grinnell Tigers come to life.

Their creamy smoothies, the best in town, complement the bakery’s sweets. “Smoothies are a big hit because we’re the only ones in town who have fresh fruit,” Heidi Rockwell said. At just four dollars a pop (and with names like “Jungle Classic” and “Peanut Butter Pizzazz”) they’re a refreshing boost of real fruit and a real treat.

So whether you’re looking to cozy up with a colossal cinnamon roll, chill with a zesty smoothie or indulge in a charming cake, Yumi’s lives true to its name!

Yumi’s is open Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.