"We got a fresh burst of energy tasting pastries in Paris at Laduree and Gerard Mulot," Mediterra Bakehouse's Nick Ambeliotis says. Since it opened nine years ago, the artisan bread-baker's wife, Sandy, always has made the bakery's signature cream scones, biscotti and "traveling cakes," but the couple has been incubating more ambitious pastry notions.
"Now the time has come," Mr. Ambeliotis says. "We will be true to our roots. Our breads are all in the French tradition. Our pastries will be, too."
Although Mediterra relies on laborious techniques to achieve its fragrant dark-crusted loaves, the bakery, located in Robinson, is no small enterprise. Wholesale customers in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati include Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's and high-end hotels. (Mr. Ambeliotis, 50, grew up in Ohio). They sell at four Pittsburgh-area farm markets.
The new project, by contrast, is about thinking small. "We have no intention of solving the world's pastry problems," Mr. Ambeliotis says. "What Sandy makes will be for customers who come to our retail shop at the bakery.
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