ABOUT

As a kid, I grew up in New York with an Italian American father and a Belgian mother. the fact that I have northern and European roots, resulted in me having an appreciation and love for quality food (especially bread).

For the past couple of years, baking has been my full time job, but I have always worked for someone else. In 2020, during the peak of the COVID lockdown, I had a lot of free time to think about my future. I started experimenting with pastry recipes at home which led to me developing recipes of my own. At one point, I had experimented a little too much and had more baked goods than I could handle. I started giving loaves to my friends, family and neighbors until one day, a friend of mine forced a ten dollar bill onto me. This trend continued as everyone that cared about me and loved what I was feeding them wanted to pay me for my goods and services. Being unemployed at the time, I figured that this would be an opportunity to create a pastry-based social media and ask the public if they would be interested in buying my bread! Over-night, I had orders booked out for the following three weeks. Soon after, I was starting to get the reoccurring question…“Do you have your own bakery?”

After years of obsessing over pastry arts, the thought came to me: All I want to do is be an old lady that gets up before the sun and makes bread and pastries in solitude and peace. This is something that I could do and love forever…so I should probably just go for it, right? I have always wanted to own my own business, but I never really slowed down enough to think about the possibility of it. . The unexpected opportunity that the pandemic created allowed for this much needed time for clarity. The response I received from selling bread for fun showed me that I could actually make a living doing what I love. This is when I decided to launch Little Loaf Bakery & Schoolhouse.

The best part about baking for me, is the fact that things that I make have the ability to bring people together. A pastry is more than a meal. A meal fuels you, but a pastry is a choice. We use baked goods for celebration, for mourning, and for togetherness. Baking goods have a way of connecting people and Little Loaf Bakery & Schoolhouse will help foster these connections by being a physical place where that can happen.

Here’s to following your heart’s passion and doing what you love!

- Julia Castellano