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The story begins in Austria in the 1800’s with
Martin’s Great Grandfather Friedrich Sorger,
known as Fritz, who served as head baker in
the rented bakery and recorded recipes for
the heritage to come. Following World War
II, Martin’s Grandfather Josef returned from
war and opened a bakery across from the
schoolhouse in the village. Times were tough for
everyone, but Josef got creative and became a
really good businessman. In order to survive, he
would tell the children, “I’ll make you a Mother’s
Day heart of brioche dough if you bring some
eggs and butter from your farm.” The kids would
happily bring three or four eggs along with some
butter, a scarcity for all, and Josef would make
them a heart in return. While loving his work
in the bakery, Josef also met the love of his life.
Soon Kurt, Martin’s dad was born. By 1948, Josef
had worked ahead so much that he was able to
purchase his own building, and The Bakehouse
became established.
The new building pioneered quite a few
advancements in baking. Martin tells, “My
Grandpa was a genius as far as machinery went.
He invented a gadget that would aerate yeast so
it would grow at the proper temperature which
is very important.” At the time, The Bakehouse
became a state of the art bakery while using
the huge, wood-fired brick ovens. Those ovens
remained with the family until the mid-1980’s.
In early 1980’s, when Martin’s dad Kurt took
over the bakery and earned his master’s title,
times were unsettled as the marketplace was
changing. Back in the day, locals went to their
local butcher, local baker, and such. However,
once the new concept of supermarkets arose
in Vienna, the Brunner family reinvented
their operations and formed a partnership to
supply the supermarkets with bread. Martin
remembers, “We delivered to the first market;
then they opened up another and another. We
supplied all of the supermarkets with bread and
soon became the number one bakery bread
supplier.”
In 1989, when the supermarkets wanted to
incorporate in-store bakeries, the Brunners
declined this new offer as if the stores were to
bake their own bread, then they would lose
accounts. As fate would have it, the family
received a phone call from Kurt’s nanny who
lived in Fayetteville, NC, and encouraged
the family to visit the United States. Martin
remembers, “In November, my parents got on a
plane and came to Fayetteville. In January they
returned for a business analysis; by March they
bought a house; by the end of April, we closed
the bakery and packed everything into a 40-foot
container.”
The Brunner family arrived in America on
June 1, 1991, and the transitions were many.
Rewiring his machines to work with American
electricity and spending three months trying
to figure out the American flour which was
different and high in gluten, Kurt faced the
challenges head on. The language barrier
presented another opportunity to overcome,
especially for Martin beginning high school.
Although the struggles were many, success soon
followed.
Ironically the move to America, offered
the Brunner family a chance to return to their
roots. In Austria, Martin worked under the guys,
but when the family came to America, Martin
smiles, “I trained under my dad. I was the teen
who went to sleep early on Friday night when
my buddies went to the movies. I was in bed by
8:00 because I had to be up at midnight to work
with my dad at 1:00 in the morning. I learned
the old recipes such as the rye bread which
takes three days as you have to keep feeding a
live sourdough culture. On the second day, you
feed it again. On the third morning you feed it
another time, and two hours later, you make the
bread. My family has been making bread like
this for over a 100 years; good techniques always
survive.”
Growing up in Austria holds fond memories
for Martin where his love for baking began.
“There was always this smell and always
something to eat. I loved the bread,” Martin
reflects. With his bedroom above the bakery
below, Martin remembers the rhythm of the
roll machine that woke him each morning at 4
o’clock. “I would go downstairs, hang out with
the bakers, and wait for the rolls to come out
of the oven. I’d grab a fresh warm roll and put
a piece of chocolate in it. The chocolate would
melt as I sneaked back upstairs and went back
to bed so my mom would think I was sleeping.”
As a young lad of 8 years old, Martin
remembers working in the bakery with his
family. One chore among many was to lay out
the dough in groups of six strands to braid into
Challah. Father Kurt began making sourdough
that he would dry, grind into a powder, and use as
flavoring in his bread. In his father’s shop, there
were 21 bakers, many were apprentices. When
growth required purchasing new machinery
to keep up with demand in the late 1980s, the
changes also affected the family recipes. Martins
ponders, “When you get really big, you lose your
essence.”
Destined to become a master in Europe,
where apprenticeships are a way of life, Martin’s
parents had already predetermined a spot for
him in Graz, a beautiful touristy town. With
hopes of receiving a proper training in pastry and
continuing for another year to earn a masters in
bread and pastry, Martin dreamed of owning
a bakery with added sweets. However upon
arriving in America, plans changed. Martin’s dad
trained him in bread and his mother in cakes
and pastries as her family owned a bed and
breakfast in Austria.
In seeking further training at age 20, Martin
enrolled in Johnson Whales, a culinary and
pastry arts school, in Charleston. Martin
informs, “I trained under a French chef and
worked for the German chef who was the head
of the pastry department. What I was able to pick
up from these guys was absolutely amazing; I’m
very grateful! Your parents can only teach you
so much—that’s why in Austria, journeymen
travel from one bakery to another and receive
instruction from different chefs who teach
different skills.
Attending Johnson Whales opened up many
opportunities. Martin knew the Pinehurst Resort
was the place to go, so he began writing letters
to Todd Richter, the Executive Pastry Chef. After
working at the Resort for a year, Martin was
invited to teach a class for Sandhills Community
College (SCC). At 24 years old, Martin began
teaching Baking 1 in the little kitchen at Pine
Needles Lodge. “During my off hours,” Martin
recalls, “I would practice at the Resort kitchen,
so I would know what to teach the students.
Over the years, the baking and pastry program
has flourished!”
As fate would have it, golf drew Martin’s
parents to Pinehurst. In addition to running
the bakery, they soon opened Café Mozart
and rented 2,400 square feet on Highway #5
situated behind another restaurant called Café
Mediterranean. One evening in the parking lot,
Martin met Mireia, his future wife. He tells, “I
was looking at their waiter’s Jeep, when I saw
her walking out the back door. She had this long
black hair, and I thought, ‘What an angel!’” It
was love at first site.
As Martin and Mireia began their life
together, both of the families involved in the
restaurant business teamed up as well. Sadly,
Martin’s Father-in-Law, the patriarch of Café
Mediterranean passed away in 2005. Martin
remembers, “We ran the restaurant without
him for a while, but it wasn’t the same. We
decided to consolidate The Bakehouse and
Café Mediterranean under one roof. At the
time, my mom retired from the bakery leaving
a partnership of four—my dad Kurt, mother-inlaw
Dolores, my wife Mireia, and me.”
In 2008, we had the opportunity to buy
our current building and find a home for The
Bakehouse. Interestingly the building was built
in 1948—the same year Josef established The
Bakehouse in Austria. In Austria, Josef baked his
bread on Italian bricks in a special wood-fired
hearth oven while the new oven in Aberdeen is
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p.6 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 130