Beloved Baltimore Patisserie Closing Both Locations After Five Years

Caitlin Kiehl opened Maillard Patisserie out of a coworking kitchen in 2020, built it into two storefronts across two Baltimore neighborhoods, and spent the better part of six years turning out seasonal menus of spinach and feta hand pies, morning buns, and tarts. By early May, both locations will be dark.

Kiehl announced the closure on social media Monday, calling the decision "bittersweet" and laying out plainly what led her to it. "The reality is, this work can be mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting," she wrote. "Owning a small business is a 24/7 job and after 5+ years I need to take some time off to rest and reset and prioritize time with friends and family."

The two storefronts she is closing sit at 3528 Chestnut Ave. in Hampden and 5414 Harford Road in Hamilton. Kiehl told The Baltimore Banner that running both is a 12-hour-a-day job, and that the Harford Road location is nearly four times the size of the Hampden spot. She had expanded into that larger Hamilton space in 2023, taking over the building previously occupied by Bramble Baking Co., with plans at the time to grow a wholesale operation alongside the retail business.

The finances sharpened the decision. Kiehl told the Banner that 2025 was the first year in more than five that Maillard did not make more money than the year before, even as the costs of ingredients and day-to-day operations climbed. "It definitely wasn't a year of growth," she said. "There's still no sign of a reprieve."

Kiehl trained under chef Cindy Wolf at the Charleston restaurant, then part of the Foreman Wolf Restaurant Group, before launching Maillard in 2020 out of B-More Kitchen, a coworking culinary space. She built early demand selling through Sophomore Coffee and Café Los Sueños before opening her first brick-and-mortar in early 2022 in Hampden, in the space that had housed Full Circle Doughnuts.

"It's been an incredible journey and the greatest privilege to serve two wonderful Baltimore neighborhoods alongside an amazing staff," Kiehl wrote in her announcement.

Both shops are expected to remain open through the Easter holiday, and Kiehl signaled the final weeks will include more than a quiet wind-down. "There are some fun things we'd like to do before we're finished so we hope you'll stick with us as we enter into our final months," she wrote. Anyone interested in leasing either space can reach out to Kiehl directly; she has offered to connect prospective tenants with the landlords.