{"id":25139,"date":"2021-06-21T09:32:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T16:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/return-to-the-sweet-life-bundts-on-melroses-jeff-beasley-steps-back-into-the-kitchen"},"modified":"2021-09-10T09:56:52","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T16:56:52","slug":"return-to-the-sweet-life-bundts-on-melroses-jeff-beasley-steps-back-into-the-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/return-to-the-sweet-life-bundts-on-melroses-jeff-beasley-steps-back-into-the-kitchen","title":{"rendered":"Return to the sweet life: Bundts on Melrose\u2019s Jeff Beasley steps back into the kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jeff Beasley at his Bixby Knolls bakery, Bundts on Melrose, on June 9, 2021. Photograph by Alena Maschke.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting a hold of Bundts on Melrose owner Jeff Beasley these days is challenging. \u201cI\u2019ve been putting out a few fires,\u201d he said after apologizing for the delay in responding to calls and emails.<\/p>\n

Short on workers who didn\u2019t return after the pandemic\u2014a problem many business owners are facing\u2014he is also in the midst of a surge in orders for his palm-sized baked goods as the economy begins to reopen.<\/p>\n

Beasley said he lost several large accounts due to pandemic-related business closures, but now orders have picked up so quickly that he\u2019s had to step back into the kitchen himself, whipping up batter and piping cream cheese frosting onto his creations.<\/p>\n

Beasley doesn\u2019t mind being back in between the mixing bowls; he\u2019s spent nearly five decades in the cake business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I would change it for anything,\u201d Beasley said.<\/p>\n

His career started as a baker for Ralphs supermarkets in the late 1970s, but his passion for baking goes back even farther, to a time when he was a little boy following his grandmother around the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I found the fascination of watching the ingredients come together,\u201d Beasley remembers. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things you can\u2019t explain, I was just totally captivated by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon enough, his aunt asked him to bake a cake for her social club and offered to pay him, too. But it wasn\u2019t cash that drew the young baker in. \u201cIt was the look and the expression on anyone\u2019s face who tasted my cake, that gave me a feeling that I still get to this day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After working at the Ralphs central baking facility in Glendale for 14 years before operations were outsourced, and another 17 years at an upscale bakery in L.A., Beasley found himself unemployed for the first time ever when that business was sold in 2011.<\/p>\n

It was during a job interview that he realized it was time to start his own business.<\/p>\n

\u201cA light that was flickering in the back of my head started flashing,\u201d he said. So he went home and began experimenting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went out into the garage, pulled out the mixer and I started working on the recipes that were in my head already,\u201d Beasley remembers.<\/p>\n

His wife was supportive of his plans from the start, Beasley said, even if the endeavor seemed daunting at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was very scary,\u201d Amanda Beasley remembers. But, \u201cI trusted that he could do it. I never doubted that he would be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, she said her instincts were right. \u201cI know that he will put his all into what he\u2019s doing,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen him do nothing but prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bundts on Melrose owner Jeff Beasley topping off a tray of miniature bundt cakes with cream cheese frosting. Photograph by Alena Maschke.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From selecting the name\u2014Beasley said it just had an undeniably upscale ring to it\u2014to running the business, Bundts on Melrose has always been a family affair. When he suffered two subsequent strokes in 2018, his youngest daughter took over operations for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have lost it if she had not stepped in,\u201d he said. \u201cShe put her life on hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, when the pandemic hit, the two ran the business together, with the elder Beasley baking the cakes and his daughter manning the counter.<\/p>\n

Throughout the tribulations of the pandemic, his family and the community that have helped Bundts on Melrose survive, said Beasley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe journey, the support that I\u2019ve had from the community\u2014I couldn\u2019t even put that into words,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One customer, who preferred to remain anonymous, ordered a Bundt cake for every worker at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center. When he delivered the order, Beasley received a standing ovation from everyone, including the hospital\u2019s CEO. He remembers breaking into tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so touched,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite a difficult year and his previous health issues, the 61-year-old is nowhere near ready to retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife says I\u2019m a control freak,\u201d Beasley said.<\/p>\n

Passing the baton won\u2019t be easy, he said: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of blood, a lot of sweat and a lot of tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

But once the time comes for him to retire, he\u2019s hoping his grandchildren will take over.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the summertime, when they\u2019re here, they\u2019ll come and work the counter,\u201d he said. \u201cThey actually learned the [point of sale system] faster than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bundts on Melrose has always been a labor of love for Jeff Beasley. Short on staff and rich in orders, he’s now had to step into the kitchen again himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":71621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002,31812],"tags":[257],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[19282],"class_list":["post-25139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-recent-articles","tag-small-business","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25139"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=25139"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=25139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}