CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Dozens of customers every week are lining up outside Sophia Marie Patisserie in Chester, a business which originally began with a pregnancy craving for macarons.
“That is how this all happened. Got pregnant during COVID. Like everyone else, stuck inside, locked down, wanted some macaron, and, you know, you couldn’t get them anywhere, right?” owner and chef Stacia Palomeque said.
After failing to make the macarons she was craving during pregnancy, Palomeque went to school to learn after her daughter was born. She initially only wanted to make treats for her family to eat at home, but gradually started taking her pastries to farmers markets before opening a home-based bakery…