The Bakery

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…” — M.F.K. Fisher.

One of my favorite memories growing up is waking up to the aroma of freshly baked bread. My mom Roxanne, made pandesal in the mornings to sell, primarily to our neighbors in the village we lived in the Philippines.

As a baker and cook, my mom made other baked goods that eventually led me to stay in the kitchen to watch her in action. She made a ton of pies and tarts. I remember taking a scrap of pie dough, placing it in my little toy blender with water, and mixing them to see what would happen. It ended up being a mixture of a sticky blob. I believe that was the first time I experienced gluten formation. However, being six then, I saw it as a sticky blob.

That’s what my mom did for a living. She would receive orders for different baked goods or savory meals, and customers would pick them up at our house. She also supplied bakeries with colorful molded chocolate candies on a lollipop stick. She called them “choco pop.”

Growing up, I never thought I would end up in the food industry like her or my maternal grandmother Charing. I thought of being in the medical field like my paternal grandmother Ester or a lawyer like my maternal grandfather Emigdio. As I got older, I realized my passion for baking and cooking.

My mom was ecstatic when I told her I was going to culinary school. Two and a half years later, I graduated.

Working in the food industry is no joke. Long hours on our feet, underpaid, multitasking like crazy, and being at work by 3 am. Sounds like a very stressful, undesirable profession to some. Like any other profession, you need the passion and drive to do well and survive the grind.

For the longest time, I have always wanted to own a bakery. Working and living in an expensive city in San Francisco Bay Area have put my bakery dreams to a temporary halt.

Moving to Upstate NY has inspired me again to open a bakery. The best part is farming was also a possibility. Wade and I started farming by raising chickens at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Then in March 2021, we established The Bakery.

A minimalistic approach is what we envision for The Bakery. A less is more approach. The classics. Chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, and bread. Then we take some of those classics and develop variations of them. Just like our pandesal and ensaymada.

Our mission is to provide our customers with freshly baked products free of anything artificial - colors, flavors, and preservatives. Anything we do not want our bodies to consume. Again, less is more. We started researching and procuring ingredients we believe are sustainably and responsibly sourced; many of them are brands I have used and trusted over the years. Our ingredients are non-GMO, organic, fair trade, or sourced from other local businesses.

More than a year and a half later, I reflect on our accomplishments. “Wow” is what I keep telling myself. It’s a challenge starting and owning a business. A ton of ups and downs, rights and wrongs, and trials and errors. A lot of frustration, sleepless nights, and stressful situations. Then I realized all of these made our business how it is today. We continue to push ourselves forward, meeting and accomplishing goals and learning from our mistakes. Be the best every single day. Start each day with gratitude and grace.

My mom made owning a business look easy. I remember asking her one day how she did it. She responded, “I just did it. I made it work.”

As you can tell, my mom dramatically influences who I am today. Whenever I develop recipes or have Ideas for a product, I seek her advice. She is my greatest inspiration and resource.

I am also grateful for every one of you. My customers. The ones who are reading this blog. The ones who religiously stop by our markets. Your feedback is always appreciated, and your patronage is astounding. I love seeing your happy faces and listening to your amazing stories. You keep me going.

It’s crazy how my journey started with the aroma of freshly baked pandesal. Who would’ve thought that the same bread that started it all is currently the bestselling bread at The Bakery?

Until next time,

Sary