Cambridge, MA | Bakery & Cafe | Bakery Box Subscription

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Key Results
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• Sold out at launch: all 50 founding member spots claimed, with a waitlist still growing
• Two box sizes, $59 for a household of two and $109 for a household of four, to fit different kitchens
• Flexible fulfillment, split across two pickup and delivery days after one day proved too much to manage
• A working R&D channel, giving Monica a way to test new items on loyal guests before they ever reach the menu
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Gluten-free hospitality
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Monica Glass spent years in pastry kitchens that never had to think twice about flour, at Gotham Bar & Grill, Le Bernardin, The Ritz-Carlton, and Ken Oringer's Clio. Then came a celiac diagnosis that changed how she had to think about baking for the rest of her career. Rather than treat that as a limitation, she built a business around proving it wasn't one, first through her WLDFLR Gluten-Free flour line, and then, in May 2024, by reuniting with Oringer to open Verveine Cafe & Bakery in Cambridge's Central Square.
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Verveine is small by design, a 24-seat counter-service cafe built around a communal table, serving an entirely gluten-free menu that draws on French, Japanese, and Italian cafe traditions. Monica runs the kitchen by ten core values, and two come up before anything else. "Our standards are our superpower," she says, and in the same breath, the reminder that the work has to feel good too. "We want to cook with happiness and joy, and that also emits into our food and to our guests as well."
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For guests managing celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, a menu with no asterisks and no cross-contamination anxiety is its own kind of hospitality. "Having a gluten-free space in general, they feel safe coming to eat here, which is what I really want to provide," Monica says. "They feel welcomed. Inclusion is a big value as well."

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A pre-menu first look 
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Verveine had built the thing every young cafe hopes for: a fast-growing base of regulars who trusted Monica's palate and kept coming back for it. She saw an opportunity to give that group something more, a way to try new items she was testing in the kitchen before they ever reached the cafe or the menu.
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"I decided to start the Table22 club because I thought it would be a fun way to introduce some of our most loyal guests to our new things that we're testing without bringing them to the cafe first," Monica says. "Giving them a first look into what we're trying to do."
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Building the box
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Working with Table22, Verveine launched a monthly bakery box: a seasonal selection of breads, pastries, and surprises baked fresh from the Cambridge kitchen, offered in two sizes so it could flex to fit a household of two or four. Members also get 10% off in-store purchases, early access to limited holiday specials, and off-menu treats and seasonal extras that never make it to the case.
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The club took off quickly enough that fitting a full production and fulfillment cycle into one day started to strain the already busy kitchen. Verveine asked to split pickup and delivery across two separate days instead, and Table22 was fully onboard.
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"Table22 has kind of been a breeze to work with. It's been really nice to be partners with them. They've made everything pretty simplified, and they were also very amenable when we wanted to break the days up for delivery and pickup over two different days, because doing everything in one day was too much."

— Monica Glass, Chef & Owner, Verveine Cafe & Bakery

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Sign-ups translating to real results
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Verveine opened their club with 50 member spots, sized to what the kitchen's space and time could support, and filled every one. A waitlist has stayed active since.
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"How many people actually wanted to sign up for that was really surprising," Monica says. "Fifty is kind of what our max is right now, just with our space and our time allocation, but we have a waitlist and people are excited about it. It's surprising. It's humbling."
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The box has also become exactly the testing ground Monica hoped for. Each shipment gives her a read on what resonates with her most loyal guests before an item earns a permanent spot in the case.
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"I love the feedback from all the boxes," she says. "It's really cool when you get things that they really loved, or just positive ways that we can actually make it better. It all helps." 
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The timing has helped on the business side too. As Verveine approaches its two-year mark, a stretch when kitchen equipment starts to show its age, the club's recurring revenue has become a dependable cushion. "It's an extra little incentive and a little bump that helps," Monica says, "particularly right now as we're hitting our two year mark. A lot of equipment is breaking, so that will definitely come in handy."
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Our platform, your pastries. Welcome to the club.

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