The newly-opened Parkside Station enriches downtown Manhattan with housemade pastries, locally roasted coffee, craft cocktails and local beers. The retro restaurant features a pastry and coffee counter along with lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus curated using local ingredients.

Phyllis Pease, owner and designer of Parkside Station, works with her daughter Hannah Pease, owner of Little Batch Company — right next door — to sell homemade pastries at Parkside’s pastry counter.

Phyllis and Hannah Pease built the Little Batch Company together in 2018, selling locally and gaining a following on social media.

“We started in my kitchen, just the two of us, and did the farmer’s markets,” Phyllis Pease said. “At our first market at CiCo Park, we put posts out there, set up our table and then we sold out in an hour and a half.”

Little Batch Company is the production side of the bakery business, making large batches of homemade pastries for the restaurant and specialty desserts for private events, like wedding cakes. The bakery is run primarily by Hannah Pease, a food industry professional and Manhattan local who trained bakers while managing all the in-betweens of Parkside Station and Little Batch.

The building that houses Parkside Station is on the State Register of Historic Places. It was built by the Continental Oil Company — now known as Conoco — in 1967, and is on the registry because its design and construction reflect part of Riley County’s history.

Phyllis Pease, who earned her degree in interior design from K-State in 1987, designed Parkside Station’s remodel with its history in mind, keeping to the building’s roots with midcentury designs accompanied by modern flairs.

Additionally, to its historic charm, everything from the ingredients to the decor is Kansas-made and straight from Riley County when possible. 

“We choose locally to support small businesses and because it’s a more quality product,” Phyllis Pease said. “If it’s grown locally, nine times out of 10 it’s a better ingredient than anything you can ship in.”

A few ways they supply locally are buying flour for all their pastries from the Kansas State mills, coffee roasted from Paramore Coffee and hand-thrown mugs and plates from local artist Justice Catron.

“I love to support local businesses, but usually can’t because of the price, so I often opt for the cheaper chain restaurants in town for my coffees,” Faith Gates, freshman in news and sports media said. “However, I am excited to have another option for my sweet treat every so often.”