Moultonborough's celebrity baker wanted her own shop, but a few things came first

MOULTONBOROUGH — The dream of running her own bakery has been with Jennifer Clifford since she was 10 years old. She started pursuing that dream as a teenager, getting her first job in the kitchen of a local bakery, but then life got in the way.

Clifford has since gotten married, started raising a couple of kids, and had a few spins in the limelight — she made it to the finale of the Food Network's Holiday Baking Challenge, which aired in 2019.

All along, Clifford managed to never work outside of her hometown of Moultonborough. At the time of her television appearance, she was the head baker at the Cup and Crumb, where she would test versions of the baked items she served to the judges on the show. Now, though, two-plus years after she got her first job as a baker, Clifford can finally call herself a bakery owner. Her shop, "The Boro," opened on March 15, and is located — where else? — in Moultonborough.

The store, located on Route 25 near the intersection of Moultonborough Neck Road, was delayed by a couple of decades so that she could dedicate herself to other parts of her life. But when it came time for her to turn to her dream, she said people came out of the woodwork to make it happen. A crew of friends and family members appeared beside her, doing for her what she's done for them for years.

The Boro has been bustling in its first weeks of business, which has been humbling, and sometimes overwhelming for Clifford.

"I was scared to death" about opening her own business, she said. Sure, she knew how to run a kitchen, but now she had to worry about licensing, paperwork, ordering systems, getting the front of the house to run smoothly, staffing.

"It's all on your shoulders now, and it's heavy," she said. "But it's exciting."

The Boro serves breakfast and lunch, every day except Wednesday. The pastry case is full every morning, Clifford serves Mad River Coffee Roasters coffee, and all breakfast sandwiches are made to order.

Clifford said some of her consistent supporters have been people coming in early before a hard day's work – contractors or other people who will need a substantial start to their day. They've been driving the sales of what to her was a surprisingly popular sandwich, the "Good Old Boy," which is stuffed with egg, cheese, sausage, sriracha ketchup and a hash brown. "It's like a meal in a sandwich," Clifford said.

The Boro is also offering pre-made lunch sandwiches that can be purchased in the morning, and is adding salads as well, intended for people who can't get away from work in the middle of the day.

The Boro's kitchen makes a lot of cookies and cupcakes as well, and takes specialty orders, including wedding cakes.

Anticipating a more relaxed kind of clientele come summer, Clifford said she plans to get a license to serve breakfast cocktails.

Owning a bakery might have been a childhood dream, but it wasn't her only one. She wanted to build a full life for herself first. Now the people from the life that she has built have helped her to build her dream. That includes her 13- and 15-year-old children who work with her, and the people who helped convert the space, most recently a Subway sandwich store, into her bakery.

"I could not have done this without the support of my family and friends," Clifford said. "I am very blessed and lucky, and I want people to know how grateful I am."