A newly opened Ukrainian bakery, named Piece and Freedom, is located on 301 Main Street #107. They are excitedly serving the Ames community with sweet and savory tastes of their home culture.
The bakery’s new permanent open hours start March 7 and are 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m Fridays. and 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The co-owners, Shalika Khindurangala and Hanna Betrova, are both from Kyiv, Ukraine and are current Ames residents. They met during Ukrainian Independence Day in 2024, and soon discovered they both had their own bakeries at different farmer’s market locations in Iowa.
Shortly after combining their bakeries at the Ames farmer’s market, they realized something.
“It is time to do something bigger than just the farmer’s market, especially with the [community’s] feedback,” Khindurangala said. “We saw that this is a good opportunity and chance to share our culture using food.”
Customers are trying something new just by stepping into the store, which is what makes their bakery so unique compared to other places in Ames.
“They’re doing something that they haven’t done, which is they try a lot of new things, they ask what flavors it is? Where is this from? How does it look?” Khindurangala said.
The bakery keeps people coming back for more, as there are many different goods to choose from. It gives the customers the opportunity to try something new each visit.
From November to January the team dreamed up the idea, bought the storefront, redid the insides, designed the interior, perfected the menu and more. The store opened on Jan. 10 and has been a huge success ever since with a line down the street and hundreds of sales each day of business.
“We really really thought that this was going to be a chill bakery… it’s been nonstop since the moment we opened the door,” Khindurangala said.
Even while juggling their own full time jobs, the family team manages to bake all of the goods and run the storefront entirely on their own.
“Everything is homemade,” Betrova said. “It’s a big job.”
With the current political state in their home country, Piece and Freedom requires all the support they can get.
“The entire community in Ames is distraught by what is happening, especially last week,” Khindurangala said. “Everyone seems to be faced with the pain of feeling neglected and forgotten.”
This upcoming Easter, Piece and Freedom will be offering their very own traditional Ukrainian Easter items, so be sure to stop in and stock up to support this local business.
You can find the small business on Instagram @piece_and_freedom or follow along on their Youtube @PieceFreedomBakery to see more behind the scenes of how this bakery is fueling the Ames community with culture and carbs.
