Whimsy & Spice, Masters of the Sandwich Cookie
Husband and wife Mark Sopchak and Jenna Park launched Whimsy & Spice at the first Brooklyn Flea in the spring of 2008. While Sopchak had years of professional culinary experience as a pastry chef in New York City, Park had no real kitchen experience other than, she tells us, “cook[ing] when I was younger, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve actually cooked an entire meal by myself.”
And, in fact, their decision to go into business for themselves was only, Park says, “a pipe dream that we’d discuss late at night after the kids went to sleep.” However, once Sopchak “was laid off [from a new job at the beginning of the recession], we took that as some sort of sign. We really had nothing to lose at that point.” In the more than four years they’ve been in business, Whimsy & Spice has grown and thrived, becoming an influential part of Brooklyn’s vibrant food scene. Park tells us that “the community is supportive of one another. Many of us share the same commercial kitchen spaces, sell at many of the same markets and help each other out.”
Some of Whimsy & Spice’s most popular treats are their many flavored marshmallows and sandwich cookies, like Hazelnut Whiskey and Massaman Curry Peanut Butter and the Pumpkin Ginger Sandwich Cookies, speckled with white pepper, with a white chocolate filling. Delicious as all these treats are, another appealing element of the company is the clean and modern design aesthetic that Park, who has worked as a freelance graphic designer for years, brings to the table. Smart design sensibility and delectable food combine to make Whimsy & Spice a perfect representation of a modern Brooklyn company.