The idea for their bakery had been developing for many years, fed by the warm aromas that filled her mother’s kitchen. “My mom started teaching me to bake when I was old enough to hold a whisk and we’ve been baking together ever since,” says Meghan Phan, who is in her final year of studying philosophy at Northeastern. “We’ve always had a close relationship, and baking with her is just another way to have quality time together, chatting and doing what we love.”
The Sweet Piglet Bakery and Cafe is a mother-and-daughter concoction one dozen miles from the Boston campus. Phan’s mother, Armanda Britton, is there from 5:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. six days per week. Phan helps as often as she can, and her younger brother, Marcus Phan, assists with deliveries and other necessities.
“My thing was really wanting my kids to be independent and self-sufficient,” Britton says. “So I was teaching them to cook at an early age. Meghan would be helping me measure flour and stir stuff when she was little. As she got older, she started doing more of her own things. She’s actually the one that started making macarons many years back—I didn’t even know what they were.”
