Sarah's Pastries and Candies will relocate in early August

Illustration: Barry Bruner

Sure, the people of Oak Street are getting a big steak house, but they're losing their chocolate: Sarah's Pastries and Candies, which has been on Oak Street for almost seven years, is leaving for more northern pastures. The new location, which will probably open in early August, will be at 1165 N State St.

The redevelopment of the Esquire theater is the cause for the move—"it was cost prohibitive" to stay and take one of the new retail spaces, Sarah Levy, who owns the bakery (and, full disclosure, is a personal friend of mine) told me. (Retailers planning to move in to the development include Christian Louboutin, which sells a product that I'm told costs much more than a cupcake.)

Nobody's crying over the move, though. The new Sarah's will be 1,600 square feet, big enough to have much more seating and a Bridal Booth for wedding cake tastings. The lunch menu will be expanded to include more salads and sandwiches (in the works: a po' boy). Most exciting for Levy: All the baking will now be done on-site. "I think there's something cool about the fact that customers will be able to smell the brioche coming out of the oven," Levy says. "It makes it more authentic."