Seattle, WA

When Carleton Avenue Grocery in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood shuttered in October of 2017, Charlie Dunmire acquired the space with the help of a Kickstarter campaign, transforming it into a bakery known for its elaborate layer cakes. Dunmire got her start in cake world dreamland when she launched Deep Sea Sugar & Salt in an Airstream in the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall.

Ever evolving, Deep Sea Sugar & Salt has recently moved to a new location on Airport Way South featuring indoor and outdoor seating, and promising to soon serve alcoholic beverages. What hasn't changed is the offering of wildly inventive whole cakes, cupcakes, and—most notably—individual slices of dramatically striated layer cakes in flavors like London Fog, which comes soaked in honey-and-Earl Grey syrup and topped with bergamot mascarpone cream, and Carrot Pineapple, with a browned butter cream cheese frosting.