Mandi Loo has a square dance caller, liquor bootlegger, former pizza shop owner and several soldiers in her direct bloodline. With that combination of enterprising spirit and sheer stubbornness how could she NOT start her own business?
She has been obsessed with desserts for as long as she can remember. If you were to ask her about her little sister’s birth which occurred when she was 7 years old, she’ll draw a blank. But if you ask her about the first nanaimo bar she’d ever had, or about any of her Nana’s treats, she’ll suddenly remember dates and times and smells as if it were yesterday…
It was from a young age that she never wanted to eat an animal again. Born and raised in the GTA suburbs, she blanched on her kindergarten field trip to a farm when she was told what was going to happen to the piggy that she had befriended. Since that moment, she hasn’t once had another bite of meat (coincidentally, she has been obsessed with having a pet pig since then as well!). At the age of 11, she had already become an activist by petitioning neighbours and the kids at school to get the city to throw out a bylaw that was going to remove a local Vietnamese potbellied pig from its loving home. At age 19, at she decided to go all the way and become vegan.
Ms. Loo spent her teen years singing in local bands, photographing other local bands, getting older kids to buy her malt liquor, and trying to figure out a way to escape the suburbs. In 2000 she finally succeeded, moving to Prince Edward County to study photojournalism at Loyalist College. After realizing this was the wrong path for her but that she, in fact, loved photojournalists themselves, she dropped out and followed one to Ottawa.
After many unsatisfying years as a barista and cashier (yet still finding meaning and joy by playing bass in local no wave band Pianosaurus Rex), Ms. Loo knew there had to be something more. In 2004, after being put up to doing the first Ladyfest “Ottawa’s Not-Your-Grandma’s” Craft Sale, she knew she had finally, at long last, found her path. Mandi Loo credits the punk rock communities of Oakville and Ottawa with teaching her about DIY (do-it-yourself) culture, and pretty much giving her the balls (and support) to open her own business.
These days Ms. Loo occupies any free time she has by having a pint at the Manx, riding bikes, watching John Waters movies, photographing her cat (Emma Loo), performing as her burlesque alter ego Ambrosia (as one of “the Muffin Tops”), attending as many local art shows as possible (her bakery features the work of no less than 4 local artists!) and learning everything she can about making her own beer and spirits. Her favourite musician is Billy Childish, and her favourite artist is Man Ray. Her heroes are her 4 adoring Grandparents as well as Gloria Steinham, Emma Goldman and Edith “Little Eadie” Beale.
