Alisha Hardison began making specialty cakes out of her home nearly 12 years ago.
Before that, she received her bachelor’s degree in art education with a minor in music and taught middle school. Along the way, thanks to a mom who always kept her in the kitchen, Hardison found herself enrolled in culinary school which fueled her goal to one day own her own bakery.
She moved to Owensboro, got married and five years ago opened Dalisha’s Bakery and Cafe.
Although it took a year for lunch items to hit the menu, it has since blossomed into over half of her business.
Some of the favorite items that make the rounds through her daily lunch specials are “Not Yo’ Granny’s Chicken Pot Pie” filled with shiitake mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes and topped with a cream cheese crust, and a “Kicked Up Sloppy Joe” with adobo peppers and chipotle cheese added.
The most requested menu item is the “Chicken Bacon Jalapeño Jam Panini” and that is where our hidden menu item resides.
Jill Mackey has worked with Hardison since day one and is the “jam maker extraordinaire,” prepping everything Dalisha’s serves on the lunch side of the menu.
The bacon jalapeño jam graces warm scones and is the glue to the panini.
Those in-the-know request the jam on the grilled cheese, which houses two types of cheese — cheddar and chipotle jack — melted between a choice of ciabatta or white, both “equally amazing,” according to Hardison.
“We all try to find anything we can put the jam on; it is insanely good!” Hardison said.
If you want to be a Dalisha’s in-the-know diner, order your next sandwich with a side of bacon jalapeño jam and enjoy the sweet and spicy concoction.
Dalisha’s Bakery and Cafe is located at 1010 Allen Street, Suite 200 and is available for lunch, slices of cake, pies, cookies and brownies from Monday-Friday 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
