Students can add Yumi’s Bakery & Deli (pronounced “yummy’s”) to their list of midsems study nooks next week and beyond. Yumi’s, located on the corner of 4th Avenue and West Street, has introduced extended hours this semester, gearing towards serving the late-night student crowd—they will now be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and from 6 to 10 p.m. everyday.
This new change was the idea of Rocio Safe ’14, a current employee and longtime fan of Yumi’s who has been involved with the business since her first year.
“I figured that since everyone always goes to Kum & Go, they might think of turning Yumi’s into a study spot since Yumi’s is right next to Kum & Go,” Safe said.
Yumi’s offers plenty of reasons to drop in, a few specifically geared towards inviting students into the bakery. Students can receive 10 percent off their purchased goodies as long as they show their Pioneer Card to the cashier. The bakery also offers a “bottomless cup” deal—Yumi’s will keep the coffee flowing with the purchase of just one regular coffee. Students that make a habit of frequenting Yumi’s may consider getting their own punch cards to reward regular purchases. A free cup of coffee is given for every 20 regular coffees purchased and a free pastry is given for every 10 pastries purchased.
Yumi’s is hoping that students will find the new hours to be an incentive to visit more—in addition to the tasty treats offered.
“The pastries here are phenomenal, especially our monster cookies,” Safe said. “The Grill has nothing on our monster cookies.”
Yumi’s has plenty of pastries to choose from, with a baked fresh daily selection ranging from the classics (cinnamon rolls and the like) to the specials. But if you can’t find that special sweet-treat, the head baker will take your requests.
“We’re open to suggestions,” said Heidi Rockwell, cake designer and head baker at Yumi’s. “If students have any ideas of baked goods they want us to feature, they should feel free to let us know.”
One particularly popular special that Rockwell is considering reviving is her Zoomer brownies, a unique student favorite, invented by Rockwell.
“Zoomers are brownies with caffeine in them,” Rockwell said. “They are the equivalent of one cup of coffee, but in the form of a brownie.”
With the week of midsems coming up, Yumi’s is going beyond extended hours to share baked goods with Grinnell students. Parents can specially order custom care packages filled with handpicked treats for delivery on campus. Students can also drop by Yumi’s after a night of studying for half-off pastries and occasional end-of-the-day giveaways. Student groups on campus are also welcome to work alongside Yumi’s bakers for catered events on any scale.
“Students can also come up to us with a set budget for a study group and we can work with them to figure out what they want us to make for them,” Rockwell said.
Perhaps one of Yumi’s staples in baking arrangements is their famously unique pecan rolls, their most popular item by far. Baked fresh daily, Yumi’s pecan rolls have garnered attention from beyond Grinnell’s streets.
“A news station from Des Moines came over and featured us on their ‘Cruising for Comfort’ report,” Rockwell said. “They featured my pecan rolls that I had taken right out of the oven. After that, the demand for my pecan rolls was crazy. I could not keep up! There were people coming all over from Iowa who had seen the news coverage on Yumi’s,” Rockwell said.
If the pecan rolls don’t satisfy your sweet tooth, Yumi’s has some new sweets with laughs included. The recent town favorite has been the “Wednesday Hump Day” cookies, in reference to the GEICO auto insurance commercial. What started out as an order for Grinnell High School has turned into a very popular item for Yumi’s, earning the cookies a reoccurring place in the bakery’s weekly lineup.
At the end of this month, the Yumi’s staff will be competing in Minneapolis’ Mall of America baking competition hosted by the Upper Midwest Bakery Association. Yumi’s will be going against 12 other competitors from the Midwest in a timed cake making competition.
Students can follow any updates on Yumi’s by “liking” their Facebook page “Yumi’s Bakery and Deli.”
