Before she started Nece’s Gluten Free Baked Goods, Sharque Starr had not had a cinnamon roll in almost 15 years. And she was desperate – so much so that she was willing to try just about any gluten-free version of her favorite pastry. Unfortunately, nothing she tried was very good. So her husband, Jordan, challenged her to make them herself.
Desperation was one thing, but for someone who hated baking, this was entirely off the table. But Jordan wouldn’t let it go, so into the kitchen she went, turning out awful cinnamon roll after awful cinnamon roll.
When she wasn’t baking, Starr was researching the autoimmune disease celiac and the history of genetically modified wheat. In the kitchen, meanwhile, she was tinkering with novel combinations of different flours, rising times and recipes. As it often happens with innovators, she stumbled upon a secret technique that finally produced the grail she sought: a cinnamon roll better than any she’d remembered. Even Jordan was impressed, though not surprised. He knew Starr could do whatever she set her mind to – sometimes she just needed a little encouragement, or a challenge.
Once she started replicating her recipe, Starr got a cottage food business license that allowed her to cook at home and sell the resulting product at farmers markets. Nece’s – so-named after Starr’s nickname, a contraction of her middle name LaNece – was born. She could turn out up to 18 cinnamon buns at a time in her home kitchen, baking from 3am until 5pm each day. After a few months of that, it was her three boys who put their collective feet down: We want our kitchen back, they said. And our mom.
It just so happened that Morning Dove Bakery in the Monte Vista Shopping Center, which was also gluten-free, was considering closing. Starr insists that it was divine intervention that brought them together at just the right time – Nece’s took over the store, equipment and all, and has been doing robust business there ever since. That’s excellent news if you’re one of the 3 percent or so of the population that suffers from celiac, an autoimmune disorder that makes it impossible to digest gluten, or the who-knows-how-many people who are gluten-sensitive.
Traditional bakeries don’t tend to offer both gluten-based and gluten-free options because doing so requires a whole other set of ingredients and raises the risk of cross-contamination. But focusing on such a small market segment isn’t easy, either. So the availability of good gluten-free options in supermarkets, restaurants and especially bakeries remains understandably limited.
That’s not to say the gluten-free among us are out of luck in Monterey County. Mezzaluna in Pacific Grove makes handmade, gluten-free pasta. Toasted in Carmel Valley gets gluten-free sourdough sandwich bread from Melinda’s in Santa Cruz. And Sweet Elena’s in Sand City makes a few varieties of delicious gluten-free tarts and quiches.
But Nece’s is the only devoted gluten-free bakery in the county. That’s impressive enough, but what one really notices is the quality of Starr’s baked goods – every bit as good as what comes out of the best bakeries in the area, and the variety is equally impressive.
Nece’s sells chocolate chip cookies, sprinkled with a little sea salt. There’s a ham-and-cheese morning bun that should require a license and a note from your trainer. For breakfast, the bakery’s “scone-wiches” will set you right for the rest of the day. The angel food cake, if it weren’t so aptly named, is sinful. And then there are the parmesan twists. And pies. And birthday cakes. And oh yes, those cinnamon rolls.
No wonder her bakery has become so popular. “Our biggest challenge right now is having enough product to offer our growing customer base, what with our small facility and staff,” Starr says. “We even have customers asking when we will be able to ship as far away as New York and Texas, as well as other parts of California. It’s great to know that people love what we bake, because that’s the heart of why we do this.”