VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Barbara Morrisette opened Seasons Best Bakery more than 10 years ago and while the staff has stayed small, the product has grown.
"We make everything from scratch, we do it in small batches, so it's made homemade just like your grandmother would do it," said Morrisette.
"We started adding more and more savory items because we saw a need in the community. People are so busy that they don't have time to cook and this gives them an opportunity to serve a home-cooked meal to their families."
This place is a hidden gem not many people may know about. Customers like Marie Ratte have a hard time comparing Seasons Best Bakery to any other place in town.
"It's fresher, it's just better tasting. It's all homemade. It's easy to pop in the oven and go. It's just wonderful," said Ratte.
"We actually have a gentleman who comes in. He gets six tomato tarts every time he comes in. Sometimes he doesn't even get through the door and we know he's coming in and we just automatically start throwing it together because we know what he is getting," said baker Diana Vanvleet.
They offer sweet treats like candy, cookies, brownies and jumbo cinnamon buns but it's their homemade soups that have customers stocking up.
Their biggest sellers are chicken and dumplings, Brunswick stew and chicken chili.
Seasons Best Bakery is open all year round, so whatever is in season, you can bet it is going to be locally grown and incorporated into their recipes.
"They're just a great part of Virginia Beach and they're a slice of life that you don't see everywhere and the care that they take in preparing their food and the love they put into it is off the charts," said customer Don Weeks.