Mitz Bakery Opens on Main Street in Hellertown
If you’ve smelled the unmistakeable scent of freshly-baked bread in the 600 block of Main Street in Hellertown recently, it wasn’t just your imagination. A new bakery just opened, and its owners are planning a grand opening for this weekend.
Mitz Bakery is the result of a culinary collaboration that involves four local educators. Danielle Lewis and Jen Sakelarides are both teachers–Lewis in the Saucon Valley School District and Sakelarides in East Penn–and co-own the business. Saucon teachers Beth Ravier and Meredith Lesney are also part of the team, along with additional staff who will have an expanded role during the school year, when the teachers will be limited to working mainly during after-school hours and on weekends.
Lewis’s professional baking background dates back two decades to the Stone Bake Oven at the former Kutztown Folk Festival.
Ravier had long worked at the 10-day pop-up bakery, which was only open during the annual festival, and about 10 years ago Lewis took over the business from founder Sue Sharadin. Sakelarides joined the Stone Bake Oven team about six years ago, and along with Lesney the quartet decided to give the business a permanent, year-round home in Hellertown after the folk festival’s organizers–who cited lower attendance and rising costs–made the decision to end it after last year’s event was held.
Lewis said Monday that the response to their soft opening held this past weekend was positive, with the bakery selling out a couple of times. This was a helpful experience for planning purposes, she said. Customers have also been enthusiastic about the renovated space in which the bakery opened. Previously home to Hellertown Bakery, which closed last fall, the new Mitz Bakery features a larger front seating area, a chalkboard menu, and updated lighting, paint, floors, display shelving and more.
Lewis described the vision for Mitz Bakery as that of a “boutique bread shop” that sells other baked goods, including scones, cinnamon buns and cookies. The focus, however, is on the bread, which is all made according to traditional recipes and without preservatives. Varieties include Rosemary Garlic, Whole Wheat, Seedless Soft Rye and Cranberry Orange, which she said is always popular during the holidays as a festive accompaniment to meals.
“We try to do everything from scratch,” she said, adding that all of their loaves are round in another nod to tradition.
The lack of preservatives in Mitz Bakery’s bread means it has a shorter shelf-life than many commercially-baked loaves, but she noted that it also freezes well. The sourdough loaves in which Sakelarides specializes are vegan, however the other types of bread are made according to recipes that include lard. The bakery doesn’t offer gluten-free options because, Lewis explained, the space isn’t large enough to accommodate a separate wheat-free baking space that would be necessary. A sign in the store also alerts customers to the possible presence of allergens in Mitz Bakery’s breads and other baked goods.
As a prime place to buy fresh bread, Mitz Bakery is offering a lunch menu featuring soup and sandwiches, which are generously sized. Lewis said she plans to offer a grilled cheese sandwich on Rosemary Garlic bread, served with tomato soup, in addition to turkey and other classics.
In addition to Mitz Bakery’s own menu, the bakery’s bread is also used in items on the menu at Cafe 23 in Emmaus.
For those craving something sweet, scones offered during the soft opening weekend included Blueberry with orange icing, Raspberry White Chocolate, Lemon Poppyseed and Maple Pecan, and savory flavors are planned for the lineup in the future.
Lewis said Mitz’s cinnamon rolls are also proving to be a hit, as they are a lighter cinnamon roll than what is typically available.
On the drinks menu are coffee, lemonade and a variety of bottled drinks.
Lewis said honest customer feedback is appreciated, and will help guide future decisions. No matter what, she said the plan is to expand the bakery’s menu over time, as the business grows.
A Mitz Bakery website is live but still under construction. Customers should follow the bakery on Facebook and Instagram for updates about weekly specials. Special orders can be placed by calling 484-641-2015 and do require a lead time of several days, as some of the breads such as the labor-intensive sourdough take as much as two days to prepare and bake.
The grand opening weekend hours at the bakery will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27. After that, the bakery’s regular hours will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.
Mitz Bakery is located at 612 Main Street in Hellertown. And the name? Lewis said it’s a playful tribute to the days when the bakers would often lose their mitts among the hectic pace of baking at the Kutztown Folk Festival.
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