Tra My Anderson’s 20-year baking resume begins at age 3, working out of “The Joy of Cooking” in the kitchen of her grandmother’s farmhouse in Prospect, Virginia.

“We were in the kitchen together basically my whole childhood,” Anderson says. “That really instilled in me a love for the craft and being in the kitchen. It’s my comfort place.”

For the past three years, Anderson has baked French pastries in her home kitchen, selling them at Richmond farmers markets under the name Le Petit Morceau [“The Little Piece”].

Anderson is currently running a crowdfunding campaign to support the opening of Le Petit Morceau’s first brick-and-mortar location in Manchester. The campaign ends Friday, May 16.

We sat down with Anderson to learn more about her vision for a community space centered around transporting-ly delicious pastries.

Style Weekly: What stage have you reached in the process of opening the store?

Tra My Anderson: We’re at the point where we’re waiting for approval for permits and zoning and occupancy. After that, we can start construction. It’s going to be a full build-out, we have to put in a floor, do the walls, put in all the electrical and plumbing. It’s really starting!

How will having a brick-and-mortar location change your baking process?

First of all, I’m going to be able to design the kitchen exactly to my specifications. Ever since I’ve been active, I’ve been working out of a home kitchen. Being able to design a kitchen shaped to my workshop is going to really affect the efficiency. I know exactly what equipment I need, what pieces. I found the floor plan of the building before I even reached out about the lease.

What’s your vision for the dining area? 

It’s going to be a very bright, warm, welcoming space. I want the space to inform how a person enjoys and experiences the pastries. That’s something that appealed to me about having a brick-and-mortar location. My whole life I’ve experienced how food brings people together. My grandmother is from Luxembourg, and she’s a great cook. She used to throw parties for our friends and family. It would just be these long, all-night dinner parties, where we would all get around the table and eat amazing food. It’s such a warm, nostalgic memory and feeling for me. I want to create a space where people can do that.

“I’m really looking forward, once the bakery is up and running, to doing pay-what-you can days for breads … Good food should not be a luxury.”—Tra My Anderson

What is the connection you see between food and community?

Really getting into the art of food, and meeting other people in the food scene in Richmond, has cemented in me that food is a lot more than food, and there’s real importance to creating a sustainable and ethical closed ecosystem for your food. Being able to stay within a community space—where you know how things are sourced and how they’re made, because you can talk to the people who are doing it—is better for the planet, it’s better for the community, it’s better for the local economy.

Being able to feature lots of really good tasting products from local businesses in my pastries is something I’m really looking forward to. Food is greater than the sum of its parts, but the parts are still very important. I’ve never felt like I was in competition with other people, but understanding just how collaborative the whole community is has really informed my view of food as a way to build community. It’s not only the people on the receiving end who are brought together, it’s the people who are making it, too.

In this campaign you’re currently running, for any amount of money contributed now, supporters receive credits worth 120% of the amount they give. Why did you decide to go with this model?

I saw it as an opportunity to give back to the people who have been supporting me for so long. I wanted their dollar to go further than just helping me. I know that people would probably have donated anyway. This is like an exchange rather than a donation.

I’m really looking forward, once the bakery is up and running, to doing pay-what-you can days for breads and that kind of thing on certain dates, because food accessibility is important to me. Plus, there’s an RVA community fridge right next to the bakery (the one at Studio Two Three). I’ve been talking to them about partnerships. Something like, “pay this much extra and you buy a pastry box for the fridge.” Or you buy a sandwich or a meal. I want as many people to taste good food as humanly possible. Good food should not be a luxury.