Pinch Bakery & Plant Shop
Welcome to Pinch!
Hi! We're Amanda and Stef, and Pinch is the little bakery and plant shop we dreamed up and built at 183 Sherman Ave N, in Hamilton's east end. It's a nut-free bakery with a daily spread of good things to eat, a shop full of happy, easy-to-love plants, and a shelf of mostly-local treasures we've picked out with a lot of care and just a little obsession. The whole idea is a place to gather, graze and grow — somewhere you can grab a focaccia sandwich and a new leafy friend in one stop, linger a while, and head back out feeling a bit brighter than when you came in. We built the kind of spot we'd want to hang out in ourselves. We really hope it feels that way for you too.
Where the Name Comes From
Most people assume it's a baking thing — a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar. Cute for a bakery, but that's not it. Pinch is a gardening term. You pinch back the growing tip of a plant, and instead of shooting straight up, it redirects: one stem becomes many, and you end up with something fuller and far more full of blooms than if you'd left it alone. (That big pink cosmos on our logo and our awning? An enthusiastic pincher, and the plant that started it all.) We named the shop after it because we believe in the idea behind it — that small, well-timed care makes an enormous difference, and that sometimes knowing when to hold back is the whole skill. Or, the short version: good things grow.
Amanda is the reason it smells so good in here. She trained as a chocolatier and pastry chef at George Brown College and has run her own confections business, Sweet & Simple Co., since 2013 — so she was making people's days sweeter long before Pinch existed. Before this, she co-founded the Kitchen Collective alongside Willard's Ice Cream and Donut Monster, which means she'd already built and run a commercial kitchen from the ground up. A few of the recipes she dreamed up back then are still on our menu today (you'll know them when you taste them). Everything she makes carries the same promises: a nut-free kitchen, wholesome ingredients, packaging that's kind to the planet, and treats that are every bit as thoughtful as they are delicious.
We wanted to create a space that we would want to hang out in, bring our friends to, and enjoy some of our favourite things. We hope it's that kind of place for you too.
Stef is the plant half of the equation. She spent most of her career in retail and management, until one little plant on a windowsill turned into two, then twenty, then a full-blown love affair — by 2014 it was a whole collection and a genuine obsession. She started taking horticulture courses through the University of Guelph and came away certain that plant care is about relationship, not rules. There are no black thumbs here, just plants that haven't found the right person yet. She loves demystifying the whole thing, and there's honestly no plant question too small or too silly to bring her — she lights up at every one.
Our commitment
A Space for Joy
Everything we do runs through four little words: community-focused, sustainable, accessible, and joyful. They aren't decoration — they're the guideposts behind every decision we make, from who we source from to how we treat everyone who walks through the door. Keep those four at the centre, and we're proud of what we're building.
On Community
More than a Neighbourhood
In early 2025, we hit a stretch that nearly closed us. We made a choice that felt terrifying at the time — to tell our community, plainly, that we were in trouble. What happened next is a story other people have told better than we could (check out the articles in the menu above!). What we'll say here is what it taught us: being part of a community means letting people in during the hard parts, not just the good ones. The neighbourhood we'd spent years actually belonging to showed up for us in a way we'll never quite have words for — and we're still here because of it. We don't hold that lightly, not for a single day.
our team
Many Blooms, One Plant
None of this — not one loaf, not one leaf — happens without our team. The people who work here are what make Pinch feel like Pinch, and we work hard to be the kind of place we'd want to work for ourselves: safe, fair, and genuinely kind. Good vibes aren't an accident. They're something you build on purpose, alongside the people who build them with you.