Safflower Street / Facebook

A new vegan bakery will bloom in Ferndale this spring.Safflower Street, southeast Michigan’s first all-vegan, gluten-free eatery, has plans to offer counter-service and dessert items at a new location north of Nine Mile Road at 23131 Woodward Ave.The bakery, which plans to open its brick-and-mortar spot within a couple of months, is headed by baker Jillian Parsell and her business partner Chris Pelak.Parsell started working in restaurants in 2017 at Om Cafe, according to, and then began taking orders for custom cakes via Facebook Marketplace. She later established Safflower Street LLC and rented out space in commercial kitchens to complete wholesale orders. After losing access to kitchen space last year, she decided it was time for Safflower to have a home of its own.One of Safflower’s signature items include a gigantic samoa cookie, made with cashew butter, date caramel, and tahini. Other items on its menu are slices of cake (including bumpy cake), some whole cakes for carryout, and soup.The 1,300-square-foot bakery will seat about 10, and will feature a large kitchen that’ll allow Parsell to fulfill both retail and commercial orders.