If Cha Cha's Hiland Bakery Doesn't Steal Your Heart, You Have No Heart to Steal

Ed and Elizabeth Kirkman combine tradition with vision as they quietly take over Highland Park's time-honored bakery.

Review of Cha Cha’s Hiland Bakery, 3615 6th Ave.; 515-282-4059.
Hours: Wednesday through Friday: 5 a.m. to 1 p.m.;
Saturdays 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sundays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Closed Monday and Tuesday, though the Kirkmans plan to start opening on Tuesdays starting October 17.

Wife-and-husband team Elizabeth (aka “Cha Cha”) and Ed Kirkman quietly took over the Hiland Bakery in early August.

While I was perusing the pastry cases at Hiland Bakery, I came upon an enticing-looking “Old Fashioned” cake donut.

“What makes these “Old Fashioned?” I asked the new owners, Elizabeth and Ed Kirkman. After all, most of the classic donuts looked delightfully old-fashioned to me.

They looked at each other, then back at me and smiled—beamed, in fact—as if they both recognized something remarkable at the same exact time.

“We don’t know!” laughed Elizabeth. “That’s just what everyone calls them.”

For some reason, we all just started laughing. And now, as I’m sitting here writing this, I’m trying to figure out what ma…