Sugar Inc. masters sweets and savories alike.

For my second foray into the flavorful world of food writing, I sought a suitable establishment for a couple weeks before it occurred to me that I should introduce people to Sugar Inc. Cupcakes and Tea Salon, an eatery that has swiftly established itself as a favourite among my group of friends. Located in Historic Dublin, roughly cater-cornered from Jeni’s Ice Creams, the bakery-cum-teahouse is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday (private parties only on Sunday). My friend and I visited on a Tuesday, shortly after the lunch rush had subsided, and greeted proprietress Ava Misseldine, who not only freshly bakes all the cupcakes each day, but also blends her own teas and is now branching out into traditional Hawaiian cuisine.

Suffice it to say that she’s a busy woman.

That didn’t stop her from sitting down with us, however, to chat and rest for a moment after the bustle of activity that had preceded our arrival — her dining room had just been full to capacity, though it is hard to imagine even crowds of hungry Dubliners disrupting the tranquility of Ava’s elegantly decorated salon. From the clean lines of natural-wood furniture to the clever napkin holders — designed like metal rocks weighing down stacks of sky blue paper that matches one lighthearted wall — each element contributes to a Zen-like minimalism that manages to convey precision without sacrificing warmth.

But, then, as a Hawaii-born chemical engineer turned self-named “head sweetress,” Misseldine is herself a charming combination of meticulousness and amiability. Her family’s recipes form the foundation for her creatively imagined cupcakes, made with organic ingredients supplied by local farmers, and her tea blends come from Red Bamboo Teas, a Hawaiian company that has been owned by her family for four generations. To eat at Sugar Inc. is to immerse yourself in the flavours and friendliness for which her home state is famed, transplanted as they are to a town in central Ohio.

Speaking of eating, our goal that day was to sample the newly added Luau Po’ Boy, made with pulled pork cooked in the traditional Hawaiian manner — wrapped in large leaves and steamed over smoldering wood at a low temperature overnight until fork-tender. This is the first of many traditional Hawaiian dishes Ava has planned for savory options — Hawaiian sweet bread and poi (a sort of thick porridge made from taro root) may also be joining the menu in the future, if local support and her workload allow.

My friend opted for the “deli-style” sandwich, in which the pork is complemented by mayonnaise, provolone and fresh, locally grown vegetables. This represents a careful balance of tastes and textures, no one ingredient overwhelming the others; moist pork, silky cheese, crisp baby spinach, sweet tomatoes and mildly spicy banana peppers deliciously meld, yet none of the flavours are lost in the resulting cohesion. Truly an excellent sandwich.

I chose the simpler barbecue version, trading vegetables for Ava’s homemade sauce, which lightly coated the chopped pork, but forgoing the sharp cheddar cheese that can accompany it. (I’m a purist when it comes to BBQ pulled pork.) The sauce, based on a family recipe, is tomato-based and sweet without being cloying, with a pleasant swath of spices and a hint of smokiness that emphasizes the subtle mesquite tones in the meat. In this application, the succulent texture of the pork can truly be appreciated by itself; juicy and rich but not unduly fatty, it rivals (if not surpasses) the pulled pork I enjoyed while living in North Carolina, where the famed “Carolina barbecue” is a regional specialty.

Both sandwiches come on freshly baked 8-inch French baguettes — their crisp, flaky crust giving way to a soft, chewy interior — and are served with kettle potato chips for $8; whether you decide on deli-style or BBQ, expect good food and a good portion of it.

No discussion of Sugar Inc. would be complete, however, without mentioning the cupcakes, which are immediately visible upon entering the bright, sunshine-bathed front room; the baked goods are proudly displayed in neatly constructed cases, each cupcake nestled in a precisely sized shallow depression bored directly into the wood. Ava always offers four more standard varieties spruced up with high-quality ingredients — Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cake or Dark Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Silk or Dark Chocolate Silk — but also creates her own unique flavours each day, drawing inspiration from both local customs (e.g. Buckeye) and various cultural delicacies (e.g. Horchata). (As an interesting linguistic aside, “Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla” has nothing at all to do with whiskey, but is instead a specific variety of vanilla named for Bourbon Island, off the coast of Africa; it’s grown on the nearby island of Madagascar. Shame, though, isn’t it?)

On my last visit, she had Coconut Lime, Almond with Green Tea Matcha Silk, “Princess Cake” (lemon, orange and almond), and Buckeye (chocolate with peanut butter frosting), but the flavours change daily — some standouts that I’ve been fortunate enough to try are Guinness Spice, Red Hot Velvet (red velvet cake with cinnamon), Earl Grey, Tuscan Cantaloupe, Apple Cinnamon, Lavender, Blackberry Dark Chocolate, Mojito, and the aforementioned Horchata. No matter what flavour you get, the cupcakes themselves are delectable: moist and dense (but not too much so), with chunks of real fruit in both the cake itself and the silky, subtly sweet frosting that crowns it. Ava has also started offering gluten-free cupcakes, made with quinoa flour, for those with special dietary concerns.

The cupcakes come in two sizes — large for $3.75, or mini for $1.50 — and should be enjoyed as a sweet finish to your visit, along with some of Ava’s own tea blends, which can be ordered hot, iced or, in some cases, as a bubble tea (with tapioca pearls). I once tried an iced tea with jasmine and honeysuckle that brought me back to my childhood, when I used to suck the nectar out of honeysuckle flowers growing on our fence. Clean, delicate and refreshing, it was the perfect summertime drink. I look forward to trying still more flavours on subsequent visits — her Moroccan Mint (Chinese “Gunpowder” green tea with spearmint leaves) and rooibos (red tea) chai blends look especially tempting.

It is difficult to capture Sugar Inc. Cupcakes and Tea Salon in short — the sheer number of facets it embodies defies any brief summation — but its essence remains pure. Here is a place where fresh, organic ingredients complement flavorful ingenuity with a focus on integrity seldom found outside such small, independently owned businesses. With each new addition to her repertoire, Ava Misseldine shows that Sugar Inc. will continue to flourish under her guidance and her family’s culinary heritage. Make the trek to Old Dublin and visit this truly winsome spot — you’ll be grateful you did.

Sugar Inc. Cupcakes and Tea Salon

36 N. High St. // Dublin, OH 43017

P: (614) 389-3459 | Twitter: @AvaMisseldine