Local brownie shop aims to create sweet community gathering spot
Mar 06, 2019 11:09AM ● By Cami MondeauxSeveral flavors of homemade brownies are available at Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! located at 1751 S. 1100 East. Browniesx3 aims to create a unique hang-out spot while donating 1 percent of their profits to a local nonprofit organization. (Cami Mondeaux/City Journals)
By Cami Mondeaux | [email protected]
Thanks to the ingenuity of owner Molly Kohrman, people with a sweet tooth and a compassionate heart can indulge both at her shop Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! (Also known as Browniesx3).
Kohrman said her shop’s mission is threefold: specialize in one delicious treat (brownies), provide neighbors with a cozy place to hang out and, lastly, give back to the community by donating a percentage of the profits to a local organization.
Browniesx3 opened in late 2018 after Kohrman left her job in suicide prevention with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Opening her own business was something she always wanted to do, she said, and so she pushed herself to do it.
“I found myself thinking, ‘What am I waiting for?’” Kohrman said. “I thought, ‘This is what I really want to do, I need to give it a try.’”
Kohrman had dreamed of opening her own business for 10 years and attended multiple culinary schools. She attended a culinary school in Washington, D.C. and the Park City Culinary Institute in Utah when she finally decided that food was a serious interest.
Kohrman said she waited until she perfected her brownie recipe and then chose a location she loved.
The shop is located at 1751 S. 1100 East in the heart of Sugar House. Kohrman said she loves the neighborhood and its walkability.
It is also down the road from Westminster College, a private liberal arts school on 1300 East. Students say they enjoy visiting the shop because of the fun atmosphere, yummy treats and late-night hours. They also appreciate that there are gluten-free and vegan options.
“We’re a pretty cozy shop,” said CK Padayao, a Westminster College student and employee at Browniesx3. “We have couches and right [outside] there’s a fire pit and string lights on top.”
Padayao said he enjoys working there because he hardly runs into rude customers and it’s “super laid-back.”
“We’re open pretty late,” Padayao said. “We’re the place to go to if you have a midnight craving.”
Browniesx3 is open Tuesday-Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from noon to midnight.
Kohrman developed all the brownie recipes and bakes them daily. However, although her life has become all about brownies, she said her innate nature of social services never left.
“When I decided to move out of that field [suicide prevention], I thought, ‘There’s got to be a way I can still support these causes and people that I care about,” Kohrman said.
Browniesx3 donates 1 percent of their profits to a local nonprofit organization. Their first nonprofit is Spice Kitchen Incubator, a program that provides commercial kitchen space and business expertise to refugees and other disadvantaged individuals.
Kohrman learned about Spice Kitchen while she was attending culinary school in Utah, during a workshop with their organization.
“They really support the local food community,” Kohrman said. “So, as our very first charity I wanted to choose something that kind of represented what our business cared about.”
Every year, the shop will choose a different nonprofit to donate their proceeds to.
At the center of Browniesx3, is the sense of community they bring to the area. With comfortable seating areas indoors and outdoors, Kohrman said she dreams of it becoming a place people can meet and enjoy the sweetness of freshly-baked brownies.
In the spring and summer, she imagines live music and food trucks – anything that will create a unique hang-out spot.
“The hope is that this place will become a community gathering spot,” Kohrman said. “So that people in the neighborhood will have somewhere to go.”