SWAMPSCOTT ― Ranging from ham-and-swiss hand pies and rosemary and lemon cookies to pomegranate martinis and a “hair of the frog” cocktail, there is something delicious for just about anyone at Zestfriendz, the town’s new bakery and small-bites bar.
A bakery by day and a small-bites bar by night, Zestfriendz prides itself on unique flavor pairings and a focus on bringing people together. The pairing of a bakery and bar together is unique in and of itself.
Owned and operated by two “zest friendz,” Margie Peterson and Trudi Fagerlund, Zestfriendz coined its name from the pair’s zest for life, powerful flavors in the kitchen, and their 23-year friendship. “She’s (Peterson) had a lifelong dream to have the bakery side, and I always just wanted a bar,” said Fagerlund. “So we thought, ‘let’s just form the concepts into one business rather than separating them, and let’s leverage the upside of both.’”
Peterson runs the bakery side, and about 90 percent of the baked goods are from her own recipes. Prior to opening Zestfriendz, she ran an at-home bakery business called Delicious Designs. She crafted the idea for her rosemary-lemon cookie during her time running this business, which is now the signature cookie at Zestfriendz. Although the rosemary-lemon cookie is a staple for the bakery, Peterson’s scones are pushing for the front-runner seat.
“You’re never going to taste a better scone,” Fagerlund said.
Peterson scratch bakes a batch of citrus scones every morning, and rumor has it Gov. Charlie Baker is “infatuated” with the scone as well.
“I always have a citrus scone, and that’s the whole lemon-lime thing, it goes with the zest again,” she said. “People on social media are like ‘I was fighting over the last citrus scone today, or they’re like, ‘am I too late for the citrus scones?”
Her other scone flavors change daily, ranging from cheddar scallion, honey lavender, maple oatmeal, orange cranberry and cinnamon raisin.
Another crowd favorite are their hand pies. Due to their small kitchen and inventory space, Peterson didn’t want to have sandwiches on the menu, but needed a savory grab-and-go option ― hence the creation of a hand pie, a pastry creatively named because of its pie-dough crust and it’s hand-holdability. These delectable treats have people coming back for more than just one handful.
“People come in and are like ‘oh can I have five of the ham-and-cheese hand pies,’” Peterson said, and explained they are the most surprising success of the bakery. Along with the ham-and-cheese hand pie, they offer a tomato and dill-havarti version as well.
Peterson and Fagerlund had fun in the kitchen last year, creating recipes for desserts and cocktails together. Fagerlund, who runs the bar/small-plate side of the establishment, recommends trying the “Hair of the Frog” cocktail, and reminisced about last February when the two friends created the concoction.
The “Hair of the Frog” is made of Chartreuse ― a 110-percent proof French liqueur in a telltale green hue ― gin, and lime.
“It’s (Chartreuse) a green, expensive, herbal, high-octane alcohol. None of us had tried it. So I bought a bottle, we sat around and we were like, what do we put with this?” Fagerlund said. “We looked up a few recipes that were with Chartreuse and we were like ‘okay, let’s do a little of this, a little of this, a little of this, and then we wrote it down somewhere.’”
“There are a lot of drinks that have gin and lime in it but it’s that Chartreuse that people are like ‘what is this?'” she said. “It just has that nice, grassy taste.”
Another popular drink the two love is their pomegranate martini.
“We actually started drinking them (pomegranate martinis) in Boston, and they have many, many stories, but we’ve brought that with us here,” said Fagerlund. –
Along with cocktails, an eclectic small-plates menu is offered. With many gluten-free and vegetarian options, Zestfriendz wants to be inclusive for everyone.
“In the kitchen from the small-bites side, if you take the bread out, almost everything is gluten-free,” said Fagerlund.
Fagerlund explained Zestfriendz’ biggest struggle has been getting the public to understand the concept of the bar/bakery.
“We find ourselves having to really educate the public on who we are. Anyone who has traveled to Europe has pretty much been like, ‘oh yeah this is normal to have a baked good and a beer,’ but in the states it isn’t quite as normal,” she said.
She explained how it’s clear Zestfriendz is a bakery, but they’ve really had to educate the public on who they are on the bar side.
“I think word is starting to get out, and people are starting to understand ― whether it’s a stigma or otherwise ― that it’s okay to have your cupcake with a glass of wine,” she added. “Nobody’s judging; it’s judgement free.”
Zestfriendz wants customers to stay as long as they want, and hopefully find themselves a new zest friend. “You can’t be a Zestfriendz place and not be zest friendly. It’s gotta have that feeling along with it,” said Peterson.
For those of you interested in opening up your own restaurant, these friends have a few words of advice: “Sleep ahead of time. You probably should be prepared to sleep your whole life ahead of doing it.”
Zestfriendz is located at 286 Humphrey St. For more information, visit their website at https://www.zestfriendz.com/
