a modern Italian hearth oven, lined with Italian
stone. Incredibly Italian engineers came to
America to install the oven. Martin laughs, “The
oven is concreted in place; it’s here to stay!”
From Austria to Aberdeen, The Bakehouse
continues to be family owned and operated
these 70 years later. Martin acknowledges, “The
key to success is that we were able to mingle the
European bakery with the Mediterranean cafe.
There is nothing better than getting a killer burger
served on a freshly-baked bun! The Barcelona
Burger is a spinach burger incorporating
Parmesan cheese and onions topped in a
special garlic sauce. Locals line up for Dolores’
Barcelona Burger!” And Martin’s favorite? The
vegetarian panini! Offering breakfast and lunch,
the Bakehouse continues to feature the baked
goodness of breads, pastries, croissants, éclairs,
danishes, sticky buns, cronuts are a favorite,
and the Bailey’s mousse is a best seller. From
custom wedding cakes to gingerbread houses,
the specialties celebrate the seasons of life.
From the Bakehouse in downtown Aberdeen,
a new generation of family bakers has grown
up in the business with Martin and Mireia’s
children—Teresa, Isabel, and Matthew. Mireia,
the face of The Bakehouse, is in charge of
operations and knows customers by name.
Mother-in-law Dolores is in charge of the
kitchen and serves up lunches to eager locals.
Martin’s enjoys the pastry room, but since his
time is shared teaching at SCC, Carrie Hadawy,
one of Martin’s graduates, manages the pastry
room.
With sixteen employees, The Bakehouse runs
smoothly. Martin admits, “There is no way this
could happen without our great employees!
Adam Locklear who worked under my dad and
who I taught in school has a passion for making
bread; his bread is absolutely amazing! Using
Brunner family recipes, Adam has a hand for
it; the number one seller is the five grain bread
that is absolutely to die for. You know what’s in
that five grain? My grandfather’s sourdough rye
starter, which starts the process of leavening
that bread. Without Adam, I would have to work
20 hours a day.”
With The Bakehouse operating as smoothly
as the icing on the cake, Martin continues to
teach at SCC, and the program is growing with
the addition of new colleagues. After 12 years of
collaboration, Martin oversaw the purchase of
a custom-built oven from Germany. He readily
gives credit, “All was made possible by the
generosity of this community; the payoff has
been incredible!”
As Martin educates his students to work at
local restaurants, he loses wholesale accounts,
but Martin explains, “I would rather be
responsible for locals enjoying good desserts
made in-house by my students than say The
Bakehouse is making all the desserts in town.
That’s not success! My students get my family’s
recipes because sharing is more important and
success continues as my students branch out.”
Success for Martin comes in teaching
the hardest skill to grasp—to think critically.
Martin shares, “Students can read a book;
they can follow a recipe; but can they make an
adjustment? With a deviation in the recipe or
a little challenge, they’ll hit a bump. However
when they start thinking on their own with a
baker’s mind, then my job is done. All of the
tools in the world are great, but if you have your
hands and use your brain, then nobody can take
that from you!”
With the 2018 anniversary marking 70 years,
the vision moving forward is driven by a favorite
quotation, “Your day is only as good as the work
you put into it. Every day looking forward has
to be better than today.” Martin explains. “You
can’t think, ‘Yesterday was good; I’ll be just as
good as that.’ No, you have to be better! We’ve
got a great team; we have a great product and
great customer service; but we must always
keep improving while preserving our essence.”
Visits to Austria emphasize the importance
of maintaining your essence as out of seven
bakeries in Martin’s hometown, only two
remain. From coming to America at age 12, to
working with SCC at age 24, and celebrating
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Above: Mireia Brunner, manages operations.
Below: Dolores manages the kitchen.
p.8 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 130