An employee wiped down a pastry counter filled with muffins, cookies and other sweets. Another wrote out items from the soft-launch menu on a sandwich board sign, with offerings like iced tea and Turkish coffee.

Ovenbird Bakery opened its third location in Baltimore on Friday, this time at Hampden’s Rotunda shopping center.

Company founder Keiller Kyle said the 1,400-square-foot shop, which combines features from Ovenbird’s large Highlandtown and more intimate Little Italy locations, could be considered a model for the company as it sets out on future expansion in the greater Baltimore area.

Most food preparation for the Rotunda shop will happen in Highlandtown, though some items will be baked on-site at Hampden for freshness.

Decor at the new shop is influenced by Turkish design, a nod to Kyle’s wife, Nadire Duru, who was born there. The ceiling features traditional Turkish chandeliers, while one wall includes a mural inspired by the country’s textiles.

“We’re trying to make this very comfortable and homey,” said Kyle, who started the business in 2019 to build off his passion for making sourdough bread. “We want people to be able to come here and enjoy sitting, relaxing, and don’t feel like they have to rush out of here.”

Global influences are also reflected on the coffee menu, which includes Turkish coffee but no espresso drinks, which Kyle said was required as part of his lease with MCB Real Estate, the Rotunda owner. The shop, which takes the place of Toki Tako, sits just a few doors down from Starbucks Coffee.

Dylan Parsons, who leads the nonalcoholic beverage program for Ovenbird, said he learned to make Turkish coffee just a few days ago but already has the swing of things. In the kitchen, he reached for a dimpled copper pot with a long handle known as a cezve, pouring a teaspoon of finely ground beans inside. Ovenbird uses a table full of hot sand to heat up the beverage, a method that dates back centuries to the Ottoman Empire.

A few minutes after the shop opened Friday afternoon, the first customer of the day was Angela Matthews, who stopped by after picking up a meal at the restaurant next door. “When we see a bakery, we just run,” she said, after deciding on an order of the strawberry rhubarb crostata.

While it didn’t have a storefront in Hampden before, the company has sold its bread at the neighborhood’s Wine Source liquor store since last year. Kyle said that its partnership with the Wine Source helped convince him to expand the business’s operations from five to seven days a week to keep up with customer demand. Ovenbird made the switch at the end of June. After its initial soft opening phase, the Hampden shop will open every day.

Asked about what comes next for Ovenbird, Kyle said he’s interested in opening a location in either Federal Hill or Locust Point next year, and possibly one in West Baltimore in the area of the University of Maryland BioPark and Hollins Market. The business closed down its Lexington Market location last year.

But expansion beyond Baltimore limits could be in his future, too. “It just depends, I think, on where people would like to have us,” Kyle said.

The business’s name reflects its founder’s scientific roots. Prior to starting his bakery, Kyle worked as a conservation biologist, studying the movement of birds. Ovenbirds, he says, are native to the East Coast and can be found locally in places like Patterson Park.