At Flying Apron Bakery and Café, you can find all the usual suspects: cookies, muffins, scones and cupcakes. But these aren’t typical sweets that can be found wherever baked goods are sold — every product is 100 percent gluten-free and vegan.

Flying Apron, which opened on Redmond Way in May 2011, offers savory items such as lasagna, soup and pizza along with baked goods. Everything is made fresh daily and sent from the bakery’s other location in Fremont.

Flying Apron co-owner Jeff Silva said that the biggest challenge in Redmond so far has been catering to a much different customer base than the original location in Fremont.

“We want to create this sense of community, so we’re trying to figure out what that community is in Redmond and cater to them,” Silva said.

The company looked to expand to the Eastside after having the Seattle area covered with its Fremont location, which opened in 2007. Redmond is more family oriented and draws in a much different customer base. Silva said that more savory products are sold at this location and the aesthetics are less funky than in Fremont.

“Redmond is family based and has a different age group, so our events are meant specifically to cater to that demographic,” said store manager Shira Firestone. “We want to be a good neighbor in the community.”

Firestone said that Flying Apron has been working to establish itself as not just an alternative bakery, but a resource for people with dietary restrictions and a place to promote community involvement.

“My vision is that we can grow to be a support and resource for people making the dietary choice to be gluten-free or vegan or both,” she said. “We’d like to provide them with a good product, but also go beyond that and help community members lend support to each other.”

The bakery hosts events and provides various opportunities for people to get involved. A free workshop series called “Thriving During the Holidays” will include gluten-free and vegan recipe swaps. A spotlight board in the store features local nonprofit organizations — the bakery is hosting a Bunco tournament next month to benefit Hopelink. Customers who bring in two canned goods now through Dec. 10 for Hopelink will receive a free eight-ounce hot chocolate.

“We want to involve the community and provide a nice, friendly atmosphere where people can go hang out, feel comfortable and enjoy themselves,” Silva said.

Every Thursday night there are free live performances by local musicians. A junior artist board features works of art by local artists and kids.

“We’re hoping that by providing these community events we can bring in more business and be a resource for our customers and the greater Redmond area,” Firestone said.

Flying Apron is also beginning a directory for vegan or gluten-free eaters to find further nutritional information and helpful resources about their dietary restrictions.

“Rather than just existing as a bakery, we want to reach out to the medical field and to those people who really need our services,” Silva said.

Chyena Markley, a vegan/ gluten-free eater and Flying Apron employee, has not found any other bakeries in the Seattle area that cater to her diet. Many places have either gluten-free or vegan products but not the combination, and cross-contamination can occur if other wheat products are present.

“I am very passionate about helping others when it comes to finding food to fit their dietary needs and was excited to pursue this passion upon being hired,” Markley said. “It is very rewarding working here by helping others find food to fit their dietary needs because I understand the difficulty trying to find a place to eat — let alone dessert—to fit my dietary needs.”

Silva said that creating tasty food that is both vegan and gluten-free is challenging because of the alternative flours and sweeteners used and very precise baking methods.

“Flying Apron is very unique to this area,” Markley said. “I find many grocery store products are marked gluten-free or vegan, but it can be difficult to find something that is both, so coming to Flying Apron I know I can eat everything.”

But the bakery’s products aren’t only for people with special dietary restrictions. The savory foods, sweets and espresso drinks are enjoyed by every style of eater.

“Gluten-free aside, it’s a bakery,” Silva said. “We always have someone on staff to develop new products and update recipes to make everything taste more mainstream.”

Firestone said that many customers are non-vegan and have no gluten problems, but they can enjoy and prefer Flying Apron’s products to other baked goods because of the taste and high-quality ingredients.

“Our bakery is open to everyone,” Markley said. “Gluten-free and vegan and omnivore customers, they all love our food!”

Some of the most popular items include banana bread muffins, pecan cinnamon rolls and the lasagna that sells out every day.

In the time since it opened in Redmond, Flying Apron has become more and more successful with sales and community involvement, according to Firestone.

“We really want to go beyond just the gluten-free and vegan community and reach out to the greater Redmond area,” she said.

Further information about upcoming events can be found on the bakery’s website at www.flyingapron.com.

Lauren Becherer is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.