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Nearly every day for five years, Aubriana Kasper drove by the olive-tinted facade of The Little Store in Woodside. Most recently, the building — identified by an eponymous wood sign celebrating its standing since 1902 — was used as a test kitchen for Hero Bread, but hadn’t been open to the public for years.
The town is where Kasper and her husband, Rowan MacNiven — a Woodside native and proprietor of Buck’s of Woodside — raise their three children. It’s a town she saw as a place in crucial need of community spaces. About a year and a half ago, Kasper said she “got this little idea in my head” to turn the store into a flower shop and cafe.
Kasper inquired to the owner, the late Kay Mouney, as to whether the store was available on a few occasions. Eventually, Mouney — hopeful to see the store become a center in the community — reached back out to Kasper to see if she was still interested.
In September, Kasper and co-owner Gena Winter reopened The Little Store, offering floral arrangements along with breakfast and lunch service from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
They brought in head chef Sierra Hazel, formerly of the two-Michelin-starred Birdsong in San Francisco, to lead the kitchen.
The menu features such nuggets of California seasonality as the harvest bowl with a foundation of herbed yogurt, a popular burrito that features tater tots and a chipotle crema, and the jambon, a classic French baguette sandwich with French ham ($14-$16). Even their avocado toast is beyond basic, employing a whipped avocado mousse ($14).
In addition to housemade offerings, The Little Store serves pastries from Manresa Bread and sources coffee from Heart Roasters.
“For us, (our approach to food) stems from florals too — we’re very seasonal forward, and we put a high importance on using flowers that are in season,” Kasper said. “We obviously had the same thought when it comes to food. That was really important to us, and Sierra was aligned with that. For us, it was about sourcing local, fresh ingredients — nothing too crazy, just straightforward, letting the ingredients shine.”
That ethos, grounded in seasonality, guided the aesthetic of the space. They painted the walls blue, gave a long bench seat a “makeover” with pillows and added a central table with flowers, cards and other assorted gifts. There’s patio seating, too, but it’s the window nook that Kasper said has quickly become “everyone’s favorite spot.”
“Our initial idea was just to flip your traditional flower shop on its head,” Kasper said. “We really wanted to make it this beautiful space that is more of an experience … That included painting the walls, bringing in warmer color tones and changing the lights, chairs and cushions.”
The endeavor is one that had long been sought after for Kasper and Winter, formerly of San Francisco-based Sightglass Coffee. The two met in 2015 and opened San Francisco coffee and flower shop Marigold in 2018.
“We just got to chatting one day and realized we both had the same sort of dream of opening up a coffee-flower shop,” Kasper said. “I knew I didn’t want to do it by myself, and she thought the same. So one day we met over coffee, and it just started from there.”
It’s easy to daydream of grand ideas for starting a store, but realizing that idea is a different endeavor, Kasper added.
“I think we both feel so lucky,” she said. “There’s this deep respect. We align so well on so many things. We are also very different, but it works because you bring those different skills.”
Kasper recently grew the menu with an adaptable breakfast sandwich — eggs with bacon, sausage or avocado, served on its housemade buttermilk cheddar biscuits ($17). They plan on adding more lunch options and eventually hope to host pop-up dinners with San Francisco chefs.
The Little Store plans to eventually increase its hours and stay open until 4 p.m., in large part due to the pleas from the friends of Kasper’s kids.
“All the kids are like, ‘Can you please stay open later?’ They rush over to try to get a pastry at the end of their day,” Kasper said.
The reality of running a business within the community that she raises her family is something Kasper still hasn’t quite settled into.
“It feels a little surreal, still,” Kasper said. “Creating a hub in this small town has been a dream … We feel like we’ve just scratched the surface, and we’re really excited for what’s next.”
The Little Store, 3340 Woodside Road, Woodside; 650-332-8885, Instagram: @thelittlestore_ws. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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