“How does an artist sculpting works of art from industrial pieces become a baker sculpting dough into the edible art of melt-in-your-mouth breads and croissants? Ask Bonfiglio and Bread Bakery owner Gabriele Gulielmetti (Gaby) and he says, “It’s all because of Rachel, her idea and her recipes.” Rachel Sanzone is Gulielmetti’s partner and bakery co-owner. They left Manhattan five years ago – Gaby, his sculpting studio in Brooklyn; Rachel, a history major at Stonybrook, worked on a biodynamic farm, and moved to Hudson in 2010.
Venturing into uncharted waters, the couple, both self-taught bakers and cooks, started experimenting in bread baking. Rachel would test her recipes by showing up at a local bar around 1 a.m. and hand out free pear-cinnamon-swirl bread. They quickly acquired a loyal following who responded to the need for really good bread at reasonable prices. Soon there was a line waiting to pick up bread outside the couples’ home where they had installed and restored two used pizza ovens and set up a mini-commercial kitchen in their basement. They rapidly outgrew the basement and, after several short-term outposts, settled into a small storefront space where Bonfiglio and Bread was born (the name Bonfiglio is Gaby’s middle name and was the name of his paternal grandfather) on Warren Street in Hudson.” – CRUSHBREW