The AJC’s John Kessler reports that Cakes & Ale’s pastry chef since the restaurant’s inception, Cynthia Wong, is departing and heading to Empire State South “within the month”.

As Kessler notes, this is a bit of a hiccup for the restaurant, which is currently opening a bakery adjacent to its under-construction new location along Sycamore @ Church Street in downtown Decatur.

However, C&A’s chef and owner Billy Allin tells Kessler that they’ve got people in place to fill in during the interim until Allin can rustle up a new executive pastry chef.

The James Beard Award nominations were just announced last night and both Cakes and Ale’s Billy Allin and Cynthia Wong were nominated for awards. Allin was nominated for Best Chef: Southeast and Wong was nominated for Oustanding Pastry Chef.  (Allin is also up for a “People’s Best New Chef: Southeast Award by Food & Wine.  You can vote for him online HERE)

Additionally, the local chain Taqueria del Sol was nominated in the “Outstanding Restaurateur” category.

“Bakery” is sort of an anomalous word in the U.S.  It can really suggest a store that sells anything from fresh loaves, to a gamut of oven options, from savory to sweet.

So I know everyone’s been wondering what precisely will be sold at Cynthia Wong’s upcoming “bakery/dessert bar”, which will open next door to Cakes & Ale’s new location on Sycamore Walk (Yes, I just made that street name up.)

Good thing John Kessler’s got his nose to the ground and his pen to the pad!  Here’s Wong’s response during part of a short interview Kessler did with her for an up-and-coming chef’s list, put together for yesterday’s AJC…

I’ll bake croissants, sticky buns, scones and bagels fresh every morning. I’m really excited to get back to my bread-baking roots.”

Is that all? “No. I’ll make eclairs, freshly baked and filled. Buttermilk layer cakes. Chocolate bundt cakes. Oatmeal cookie and marshmallow ice cream sandwiches. Ice cream birthday cakes to order. Cake and jelly doughnuts and cupcakes — people can say both these things are “overdone, ” but to me there is no such thing, as long as it is tasty.

This rumor has been floating for a while.  Especially after Kaleidoscope closed, but that idea died on the vine.  Looks like Cakes and Ale is ready to move and expand.  Twitter to retweeting this news like crazy.  Atlanta Magazine’s Bill Addison got the scoop.  He tweets…

Big news: Cakes & Ale is moving to slightly larger space in Decatur and opening a bakery helmed by Cynthia Wong. More deets soon #DecaturGa

Where are they moving?  What KIND of bakery?

I want deets!!  (And when I get them, I will post!)

Wow.  Huge honor for Billy Allin, Cynthia Wong and all the folks at Cakes & Ale.

According to Grub Street New York, which got a “sneek peek” of Bon Appetit’s upcoming issue, which includes “10 Best New Restaurants in America”, Cakes & Ale is among the honored.  The recommended dish from the listing is “Citrus Arancine with Pecorino Cheese”.

They’ll be more when the issue hits newsstands August 11th.  Stay tuned.

For now, I think “Congratulations” are in order!

h/t: Running With Tweezers (via Twitter)