The bakery next door

Your neighborhood's next hot bakery — or coffee shop, pizza joint or BBQ spot — might be inside someone's house.Why it matters: More people are turning their home baking into a business, as online platforms and loosening state regulations make it easier for home cooks to reach customers.By the numbers: Seller signups on home chef platform Hotplate doubled in July, after previously numbering in the low thousands, co-founders Tenaya McCoy and Rishi Talati tell Axios.And over 1,000 sellers across 48 states joined Potluck, an "Airbnb for homemade food," within two months of launching this summer, founder Ken Barton tells Axios.The big picture: Selling from home — a setup sometimes called a micro bakery or porch bakery — can help cooks keep overhead low.For customers, it can mean fresher food, simpler ingredients or something different from the usual chain fare.What they're saying: "This is about community, creativity and connection," Hotplate's McCoy says, describing local food as a way to bring neighbors together in an otherwise lonely, increasingly AI-assisted world."It's a lot of human-to-human interaction," Potluck's Barton agrees.Zoom in: Fort Lauderdale baker Brooke Chambers tur…

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