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ORAL HISTORY

Mai Warshafsky

Café Warshafsky

Mai Warshafsky was born in 1982 in Woodstock, New York, and grew up eating foods that reflected her family’s Japanese and Eastern European heritage. After completing an art degree in New York City, she worked front–of–house in a number of popular Manhattan bistros and cafes. At home, she turned to baking as an outlet for creativity and relaxation. Years of restaurant experience and lifelong appreciation for diverse cuisine vested her with keen instincts for baked goods that were both sophisticated and popular, and in 2014 she formally launched Café Warshafsky, a wholesale bakery devoted to uniquely flavored shortbread.

Eager to grow her business in a less expensive city and impressed with the food scene in Richmond, Virginia, in January 2020 Mai and her husband moved south and Richmond’s Hatch ghost kitchen became the new home for Café Warshafsky operations. Mere months after this transition, the COVID–19 pandemic forced Mai to navigate a newly and radically destabilized hospitality industry alongside, and with help from, her new Virginia colleagues and neighbors. Local support, national press, and a fierce work ethic saw Mai through the worst of it, and in 2022, Café Warshafsky is a thriving Southern–based business with customers across the country.