LEXINGTON, Ky. — Denise Walsh, the innovative baker behind the former Miracles Gluten-Free Bakery in Lexington, is set to launch her re-branded business—Miracles Bakery—from her brand-new space inside McIntyre Hall at Mustard Seed Hill in Millersburg, just outside Paris in Bourbon County. The invitation-only Grand Opening event will occur Friday, April 14th, at 10:30 a.m.. It will offer attendees a tour of the brand-new facility and a chance to sample a variety of gluten-free and/or vegan baked goods.
Walsh’s original bakery was located in Lexington. It featured an extremely popular café alongside the manufacturing aspect of the business, providing products to Whole Foods and Good Foods Co-op and custom-baked orders for food allergen sufferers.
“With the café, we kept getting busier, but the bottom fell out when Covid hit. We got shut down on the retail side for six weeks,” Walsh explained. “We were still allowed to do manufacturing, so we were still doing wholesale. We had been there for eight and a half years, but our rent was increased by 162% when our lease was up. I paid it for a year because I had nowhere to go.
“We are thrilled to welcome Miracles to Millersburg and Mustard Seed Hill,” said Victoria Benson, President of Mustard Seed Hill. “It is wonderful to be able to bring another new business to the town, and I think this is setting us up nicely to do this again and again here for future entrepreneurs.”
Gordon Wilson, Executive Director of the Paris-Bourbon County Economic Development Administration, remembers meeting Walsh in 2020.
“We tried to recruit her to Paris, but the available building was too big for her,” Wilson said. “I was just so impressed with her enthusiasm, spiritual background and ability. She was building on her original operation and she just kept growing. It’s genuinely from the heart with her, and she gives the Lord credit for everything.”
Miracles Bakery joins Community Ventures’ luxuriously appointed B&B and three other small businesses now operating out of McIntyre Hall on the Mustard Seed Hill campus. The McIntyre Hall renovation was funded by awards and assistance from the Economic Development Administration, the Department of Local Governments, New Markets Tax Credits and the Kentucky Colonels, whose grant monies specifically outfitted the commercial kitchen intending to provide an ‘incubator’ for aspiring food entrepreneurs and bringing dining options to Millersburg residents and visitors.
