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March 13. 2013 10:50PM
Michael and Catherine Santopadre outside their new Three Little Birds Bakery on Water Street in downtown Lebanon. (COURTESY)
LEBANON - It may sound like a hippie cliché, says Michael Santopadre, owner of Three Little Birds Bakery, but when asked why their breads and treats taste so good, he and his wife, Catherine Santopadre, answer simply, "Well, it's the love we put into it."
The couple recently moved their wholesale bakery out of their 450-square-foot basement into a 2,100-square-foot space in downtown Lebanon. The new facility features upgraded equipment and provides closer access for employees and customers.
"I think we just put a lot of passion and conscious effort into how our food tastes and how it comes out," Santopadre said.
Mike Davidson, owner of local real estate redevelopment company Execusuite LLC, custom-built the space for the bakery on the ground floor of the Execusuite Water Street building and removed an embankment in front of the building to create a street-level entrance. Lake Sunapee Bank worked with Execusuite to provide the financing for the renovation, he said.
"We looked for a space for them for several years," Davidson said. "It's hard to find an affordable space for a small business that's code complaint."
The result is an old-fashioned neighborhood business at which employees can walk to work and patrons can pop in to buy a loaf of bread or a cookie, Davidson said.
It's great to see a family-owned bakery providing for the community, he said. "It's hard to find these days, and that's part of what we're trying to do together, to find a downtown place and make a neighborhood business."
Santopadre said the bakery is not set up for retail, but it does sell to walk-in customers, and the couple would like to add a retail component to the bakery in the future.
Michael and Catherine Santopadre arrived in the Upper Valley in 2001 with two young daughters, Lucy and Hailee, age 4 and 3 at the time. Later that year the couple opened a retail bakery business, Lady Bug Bakery, in the Staples Plaza on Route 12A in West Lebanon.
When their son, Samson was born the following year their young children and some family health concerns caused the couple to close the retail space and move their bakery into their home, where they focused on the local wholesale market as well as baking products hand-made from scratch with natural, organic and local ingredients.
"Everything is at least all-natural," Santopadre said. "We put in no enhancers. A lot of the breads have enhancers. No mold retarding products in our bread," he said.
The bottom line: Their list of ingredients are readable, he said. They use only organic sugar, fruit sugars, or low-glycemic sweeteners such as agave nectar.
"Whatever we're producing I'm going to do my very best, even if it's a tiny cupcake," Santopadre said.
Their mission was to bring good, healthy food to the community, and they feel they are succeeding, Santopadre said.
Recently, they started selling loaves and focaccia made from 100-year-old bread starter from Italy.
"For me as a bread baker after baking bread for 25 years I finally feel like I am baking a loaf of bread when I bake this . it's just such a pure form of baking," Santopadre said.
And soon they plan to add yeast-free artisan bread and several low-glycemic products. The larger space will allow the family to better serve their growing wholesale clients.
"We do all of the local coops," he said. "Hanover and Lebanon, which are huge stores. We do Upper Valley Co-op. We do the White River Junction Co-op, Littleton and Lyme co-ops."
Three Little Birds is also found in local "mom and pop" stores in the region, Cravin's Country Market & Deli at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the bakery recently won a contract to provide breads and baked goods to the Lebanon School District.
Santopadre said the bakery is named in part for their three children, but also after the Bob Marley song, "Three Little Birds."
"It's our children, and it's a nod to Bob Marley's music and how much we love reggae music," he said. "Reggae music is music for the heart. We do this for our heart."
mpierce@newstote.com
Lebanon bakery on the rise
Michael and Catherine Santopadre outside their new Three Little Birds Bakery on Water Street in downtown Lebanon. (COURTESY)
The couple recently moved their wholesale bakery out of their 450-square-foot basement into a 2,100-square-foot space in downtown Lebanon. The new facility features upgraded equipment and provides closer access for employees and customers.
"I think we just put a lot of passion and conscious effort into how our food tastes and how it comes out," Santopadre said.
Mike Davidson, owner of local real estate redevelopment company Execusuite LLC, custom-built the space for the bakery on the ground floor of the Execusuite Water Street building and removed an embankment in front of the building to create a street-level entrance. Lake Sunapee Bank worked with Execusuite to provide the financing for the renovation, he said.
"We looked for a space for them for several years," Davidson said. "It's hard to find an affordable space for a small business that's code complaint."
The result is an old-fashioned neighborhood business at which employees can walk to work and patrons can pop in to buy a loaf of bread or a cookie, Davidson said.
It's great to see a family-owned bakery providing for the community, he said. "It's hard to find these days, and that's part of what we're trying to do together, to find a downtown place and make a neighborhood business."
Santopadre said the bakery is not set up for retail, but it does sell to walk-in customers, and the couple would like to add a retail component to the bakery in the future.
Michael and Catherine Santopadre arrived in the Upper Valley in 2001 with two young daughters, Lucy and Hailee, age 4 and 3 at the time. Later that year the couple opened a retail bakery business, Lady Bug Bakery, in the Staples Plaza on Route 12A in West Lebanon.
When their son, Samson was born the following year their young children and some family health concerns caused the couple to close the retail space and move their bakery into their home, where they focused on the local wholesale market as well as baking products hand-made from scratch with natural, organic and local ingredients.
"Everything is at least all-natural," Santopadre said. "We put in no enhancers. A lot of the breads have enhancers. No mold retarding products in our bread," he said.
The bottom line: Their list of ingredients are readable, he said. They use only organic sugar, fruit sugars, or low-glycemic sweeteners such as agave nectar.
"Whatever we're producing I'm going to do my very best, even if it's a tiny cupcake," Santopadre said.
Their mission was to bring good, healthy food to the community, and they feel they are succeeding, Santopadre said.
Recently, they started selling loaves and focaccia made from 100-year-old bread starter from Italy.
"For me as a bread baker after baking bread for 25 years I finally feel like I am baking a loaf of bread when I bake this . it's just such a pure form of baking," Santopadre said.
And soon they plan to add yeast-free artisan bread and several low-glycemic products. The larger space will allow the family to better serve their growing wholesale clients.
"We do all of the local coops," he said. "Hanover and Lebanon, which are huge stores. We do Upper Valley Co-op. We do the White River Junction Co-op, Littleton and Lyme co-ops."
Three Little Birds is also found in local "mom and pop" stores in the region, Cravin's Country Market & Deli at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the bakery recently won a contract to provide breads and baked goods to the Lebanon School District.
Santopadre said the bakery is named in part for their three children, but also after the Bob Marley song, "Three Little Birds."
"It's our children, and it's a nod to Bob Marley's music and how much we love reggae music," he said. "Reggae music is music for the heart. We do this for our heart."
mpierce@newstote.com