A story about a woman who turned grief into direction, journeys into recipes, and one tiny corner of Sofia into a community.
Where the mountain meets the cocoa
Early in the morning, when Sofia is still stretching awake, a 19-square-meter workshop (about 200 square feet) on 19 Fridtjof Nansen Street is already breathing warm chocolate. Antoaneta Tancheva—Toni to almost everyone—arrives around seven, unlocks the door, and the world instantly fills with that unmistakable aroma that makes strangers pause at the window and smile. From the doorway she always catches the same glimpse of Mount Vitosha peeking through the trees—a quiet compass that starts her day.
For her, this isn’t a job. It’s something deeper, almost a ritual. “Baking is my way of meditating,” she says. And it shows. Watching her move between trays is like watching someone on a familiar mountain trail: calm, focused, unhurried.
The mountain was her first love: the solitude, the rhythm of the steps, the freedom in her thoughts. Brownies became the second. Brownies and Mountains simply brought the two together, without fuss, without explanation. That’s just how her life sounds.
From the world back to herself
Right after high school, Toni spent a year studying pop and jazz singing in Plovdiv. Then she left for England “for three months.” Three months that quietly stretched into 14 years. London, then Sri Lanka, then the Netherlands. She studied tourism and worked as a travel coordinator—the person who arranges everyone else’s trips down to the last confirmation number. Meanwhile, she baked brownies constantly: carried them in suitcases, in carry-on bags, into offices on three continents. “Calories of happiness,” she likes to say.
Yet baking stayed a hobby. Until life turned sharply: she lost one of her closest friends—the person who had been telling her for years to come home and open a bakery. That loss shook her so deeply she could no longer ignore her own path. She strapped on a backpack and walked the Camino de Santiago—alone, 900 kilometers, 34 days.
The Camino rearranged her thoughts. Conversations with strangers, the steady crunch of gravel, the ache in her muscles, the quiet in her mind. That’s where she understood how grief can turn into strength. And what it means to carry a gift others see in you long before you see it yourself.
How a place is born
After the Camino, the direction was clear. Toni returned to Bulgaria, enrolled in a pastry course, interned with Tanya Dimitrova of Raw & More, and then worked with her for a year and a half. Discipline, clean flavors, great ingredients—lessons that would later define Brownies and Mountains as well.
During that time, she often stopped by Urban Embassy Specialty Coffee, her favorite specialty coffee shop on Fridtjof Nansen Street, a place she loved long before imagining she’d one day be its neighbor. “I joked to Niki, the owner: if a space ever opens up nearby, let me know.” A year later, the unit next door opened. And Toni knew it was her moment.
Her friends rallied the way only friends do: one brought shelves, another assembled the display case, a third painted until midnight. And on October 10, 2023, Toni opened Brownies and Mountains, the first brownie-only atelier in Bulgaria.
She started with four flavors. Today there are more than twenty: mango blondie, goldie with toffee caramel, raspberry brownie, and more adventurous takes like lemon, pumpkin, rose, or even feta with orange. Some combinations sound impossible—until you try them and suddenly have a new favorite.
Where customers become a community
The brownies draw people in, but Toni is why they come back. They stop by for something sweet and end up staying for a chat—or simply for that feeling of being welcomed like an old friend.
She listens. She asks questions. She remembers. Customers bring her stories—mountain routes, photos from long hikes, tiny souvenirs from their travels, even homemade desserts for her to try. Some return the next day, others after hiking the Kom–Emine trail, others from Varna or Vratsa “because someone told us to stop by.”
She’s planning a cork wall for all the photos and notes they leave her—small pieces of attention that slowly weave strangers into a community.
The atelier also features creations from kindred spirits: enamel mugs by mountain apparel brand birdies.nerdies, mountain-themed books by Planinka, brooches by Tina Stoycheva, and the children’s book Mountain Guide Sami by Kristiana and Slavi Ilievi —fellow makers walking their own creative paths. None of it feels like merchandise. It all adds to the shared atmosphere.
“Everything here goes both ways,” Toni says. People come for her, but she draws strength from them, too—from the conversations, the laughter, the stories they carry into her tiny space.
BASE: when you don’t need a partner, but a direction
Toni joined the Business Academy for Starting Entrepreneurs (BASE) on a friend and former participant’s recommendation. The business was working, but she didn’t know why it was working so well. “I was focused on the product,” she says. Administration, invoicing, pricing, cost calculation, marketing—all of it stayed in the background.
Slowly, the business side began to make sense. “It’s like they give you the cream of the story,” she says, referring to the way BASE distills the fundamentals into something you can actually use. The program taught her how to track expenses, calculate real costs, and structure her day more smartly. At the end of the spring 2025 season, she won first place. The prize—a professional mixer—saved her wrists and hours of manual work every day.
Today she has a mentor, Ivan Gyaurski, whom she meets every Tuesday. “BASE gave me a family,” she says. And the word fits: participants keep meeting, helping each other, sharing struggles. Sometimes even recipes.
The journey of a brownie
For Toni, every recipe begins with curiosity and patience. She tests, writes notes, rewinds, tries again. Sometimes she tweaks a single ingredient; sometimes she flips the whole idea. Friends and regulars are often the first tasters—the honest ones who either approve or send the recipe back for revision.
Toni refuses to compromise on ingredients. She uses high-quality chocolate and cocoa, even though their prices seem to rise every month. “It’s a daily battle,” she says. She juggles cost, quality, and accessibility—but never at the expense of real flavor.
That’s why her brownies have such distinct character: crisp edges, molten centers, a long, warm finish. The kind of dessert that leaves no crumbs—only a quiet smile.
It’s no surprise that Brownies and Mountains regularly ranks among the top bakeries in the Eagles awards, a popular customer-driven ranking among Sofia food lovers.
Leaving with more than dessert
Toni works six days a week. On the seventh, she does the accounting. In the summer, she closes for two or three weeks to return to the mountain trail. “To be there for others, I need to be well,” she says in that gentle but steady tone of someone who’s walked many paths.
And despite the fatigue, when she closes the door each evening, she leaves smiling. Because she’s made something with her hands that made someone’s day sweeter. That’s her kind of happiness.
Holiday boxes for people who love to share
This Christmas—and for every office party, birthday, or special occasion—you can fill the room with the scents of cocoa, mango, raspberries, caramel, or feta with orange by ordering a gift box from Brownies and Mountains. The most popular option is the selection of eight mini-cut brownie varieties—perfect for sharing and discovering new favorites.
You can place orders in person or through Instagram.
And yes, fair warning: One box is never enough.
Brownies and Mountains is located at 19 Fridtjof Nansen Street in Sofia and is open Tuesday through Sunday.
