Bloom Bake Shop, Café Domestique and Youngblood Beer Company have partnered together in the Eken Park neighborhood on Madison’s north side to create Northstreet. Located at 557 North St., these three independent businesses are sharing space and working together to create a unique opportunity for people to connect with each other or to enjoy time alone in a comfortable environment. The building is organized so people can pick a product from the vendor of their choice and then mingle.

Bloom Bake Shop, owned by Annamarie Maitri and her husband Mark Pavlovich, provide pastries made at their Monroe Street location. Bakery items are transported fresh in the morning.

Selections at Northstreet will vary daily but will include croissants, brioche, baguettes and some form of sourdough loaf. As people come in and comment on their favorite pastries, when possible, efforts will be made to have those items on a regular basis. Items sometimes are seasonally changed, and local purveyors are the suppliers of choice.

Plates with pastries can be taken into the Café Domestique’s space to grab a coffee. Or grab a coffee first and head into the bakery.

Northstreet seating — Northstreet's open communal seating is friendly and inviting.

“We are all family here,” explained Rebecca, an employee from Bloom Bakery.

Café Domestique, which also has a location at 1408 Williamson St., provides a large open space across from Youngblood’s bar to sit with friends or read or work on your laptop.

Regular patron Haydon said he comes about once a week because “the coffee is impeccable. I like the windows; it is so light and the people are so nice.”

Owner Dan Coppola has been in the bicycle industry for about 20 years. He has brought the same passion to serving great coffee. Employees and patrons know him as a warm and friendly person — traits which are clearly reflected in his business.

Youngblood Beer Company, owned by Tom Dufek and Billy DuPlanty, also has a microbrewery with a taproom on King Street. All the beers on tap at Northstreet are made by Youngblood, and there is a variety of offerings to appeal to anyone looking for quality locally crafted beer. Food is available, but the menu changes.

In addition to space at the bar, where patrons can gaze at a lighted array of leaves and a cardinal, a selection of tables is available.

Zach, a bartender at Northstreet, agreed with Rebecca’s expression of family wholeheartedly.

“We are all good neighbors here,” he said.

Colorful murals cover the outside walls of a building that once looked more like a bunker. It’s the place that had no windows and a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire surrounding the building at the corner of North Street and Commercial Avenue. Now its brightly painted “Hey Neighbor” by the front door perfectly reflects what will be found inside.

For more information and hours for each business, visit northstreetmsn.com.

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