Nine Winters brings Korean, New England flavors to Cambridge bakery's menu
Nine Winters is a distinctly Korean-American bakery where the flavors of Korea and New England converge in its food and drink offerings.
Customers will find classic café beverages like Americanos and lattes alongside the West Cambridge bakery's signature drinks, Songpyeon pine lemonade, Inyeon orange ginger beer and cold brew mix.
The Songpyeon pine lemonade and the hot chocolate from Nine Winters Bakery.Chris McLaughlin
Among its plethora of pastries and baked goods, there are accentuated flavors of ginger, sesame and gochujang sauce featured — not to mention its plump Korean garlic bread overflowing with semi-sweet cream cheese.
Open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, at lunchtime Nine Winters' menu expands to offer salads, sandwiches and a "Galbi Pot au Feu" stew made to feel like a warm home-cooked meal with tender beef, potatoes and hearty vegetables.
The bakery serves as a love letter to owner Marissa Ferola's two young daughters, Janine and Winter, who are subtly honored in the Nine Winters name.
Inside the bakery located at 292 Concord Ave., one will find several wall murals depicting Ferola's children in animated form playing alongside animals, anthropomorphic food and figures from Korean folklore.
The interior of Nine Winters Bakery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Chris McLaughlin
Ferola told MassLive that Nine Winters began as a "passion project" to ease her firstborn daughter into Korean cuisine by developing recipes that gradually accustomed her to more traditional Korean flavors.
Raised on the South Shore as a South Korean adoptee to American parents, Ferola said she didn't always see much diversity around her and added she grew up without a firm cultural understanding of her own roots.
"I want us to be able to celebrate both our heritage and our roots and where we come from, and also the gratitude that I have for growing up in New England," Ferola said. "I mean, I've never moved. You know, I love it here, so I want to make sure that I'm honoring both parts of me."
The Galbi Pot au Feu from Nine Winters Bakery's lunch menu.Chris McLaughlin
Having Nine Winters be a "welcome and safe and comfortable" space for all, as well as promoting "youth confidence" in young people — like her daughters — to feel proud of who they are and their heritage, are foundational principles of the business, Ferola said.
Before settling at the intersection of Walden Street and Concord Avenue in a more residential section of Cambridge at the end of June, Nine Winters started as a pop-up business.
The exterior of Nine Winters Bakery at 292 Concord Ave. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Chris McLaughlin
With the encouragement of her mentor of nearly a decade at the Cambridge ice cream shop Honeycomb Creamery , Ferola launched the brand.
Nine Winters originally made pop-up appearances at Honeycomb as well as spots like THE mushroom shop and Bow Market in neighboring Somerville.
Through a happenstance connection with Nine Winters' current commercial landlord, the business started an almost year-long build-out, furnishing its current space with a kitchen where there previously wasn't one.
Plushies line the edge of a bay window seat at Nine Winters Bakery.Chris McLaughlin
The interior of Nine Winters is adorned with many purple and lavender hues. There are a handful of lower circular tables and high top tables for seating, as well as a bay window nook lined with plush figures, creating a cozy atmosphere.
Patrons can sip on rich hot chocolate served in ceramic mugs with rims coated in thick, creamy mousse, or order a slice of cake from a rotating selection of different flavors.
A cake sold by the slice at Nine Winters Bakery.Chris McLaughlin
Other sweet treats on the menu include gochujang sticky buns, peanut butter chili crisps, black sesame chocolate chip cookies, triple pepper ginger cookies, monkey bread and misugaru cream buns.
While some menu items are staples, others shift with the seasons.
Gochujang sticky buns and peanut butter chili crisps for sale at Nine Winters Bakery.Chris McLaughlin
For example, for the fall, Nine Winters is offering a "doenjang apple blondie." Doenjang is a fermented soybean paste from Korea similar to Japanese miso, Ferola said.
The blondie carries a salty, umami flavor that, when paired with autumn apples from New England, develops a "maple-y, richer, deeper sweetness" in a brown sugar confectionery treat, Ferola said.
A Doenjang apple blondie from Nine Winters Bakery alongside its Korean garlic bread.Chris McLaughlin
Since opening, Ferola said she has felt a lot of community support for Nine Winters and, in turn, seeks to return the favor by promoting community events.
From Thursday, Oct. 16, through Saturday, Oct. 18, Nine Winters will host fellow AAPI business Phaeng & Phiu for a pop-up ticketed 6-course tasting menu of Lao cuisine.
Phaeng & Phiu was recently named the 2025 best pop-up by Boston Magazine .
More information about Nine Winters can be found on its website and on its Instagram page.
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