ISABELLA, HANNAH, & COLE
PAUL & EILEEN
ONE OF OUR BAKERS, LOURDESOur Roots
Paul and I (Eileen!) met in 11th grade English class. That was a long time ago, but he’s been a foodie the whole time! He was raised in a family that has always put an emphasis on food, dinner was every night at the same time and you were not late! Paul’s mother, Rena, is no doubt the source of Paul’s love and talent for cooking. My contribution to our life in the food business is loving to eat!
Our first foray into the industry together was a pizzeria. We operated this restaurant, Baba Louie's in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for 25 years. In 2003, we opened a second location in Hudson, New York and in 2010, a third in Pittsfield. Our mission was to serve fresh, simple, quality food for a fair price with great service and a relaxed atmosphere. Simple right? Well, it was a full time job!
For 10 years we rolled along with our restaurants. Eventually, three kids came along, Isabella, Cole, and Hannah. Luckily they love pizza!
The crust we make for our restaurants is a thin, crisp, and chewy, sourdough crust. In 2016, we started up a bakery to make all the breads and crusts for our restaurants. We are lucky to have a wonderful staff of bakers who keep us stocked with sourdough pizza crust, wheat bread, rye bread, ciabatta, focaccia, and baguettes, as well as our popular spelt crust.
Then..... like many people I have come to know, I found myself unable to eat gluten. For a pizza restaurant owner this was a HUGE problem, not to mention, I could no longer enjoy my go-to comfort meal of pizza and beer! I was devastated.
The journey to find a decent gluten free crust began.
This is where being married to a fantastic baker, and the greatest guy ever, came in handy. Paul decided he would make me a gluten free sourdough crust just like our regular crust! He’d make it vegan, dairy, nut, and soy free while he was at it, and use only non-GMO ingredients, get it gluten free certified, AND of course, have it taste amazing. Is he not the greatest guy?
The road to perfection was a bit bumpy with lots of making and tasting, making and tasting. Many people played a role in the final result. We had people who knew our regular crust taste it. We had gluten free people taste it. We tested batch after batch (too salty, doesn't cook up right, funny taste on the back of your tongue). Then one day, out of the darkness came the light! It was good, really good, and everyone agreed. If people who can eat regular pizza crust think your gluten free crust is delicious, then you definitely have something special on your hands.
We started sharing the crust with our customers at the restaurants and received amazing feedback. We were so excited. Our staff even started having their staff meals on the gluten free crust. People started telling us how happy they were to get to eat pizza again. Some people even sent their pizza back thinking we had delivered a regular pizza to their table!
As the number of sales increased at our restaurants, Paul had the great idea to bring our crust to market. Holy heck is that a process!
The journey from our kitchen to the marketplace was and is an adventure. We have met a lot of wonderful people, heard a lot of inspiring stories and have had fun sharing the magic that is Ugly's Gluten Free Crust. We so appreciate the support we’ve received from other gluten free bakers and those in the industry who have taken us under their wings to help us along the path. We will continue to spread the word and do our best to get our product to everyone who wants it.
BABA LOUIE’S GREAT BARRINGTON
FINALLY, A PERFECT GF CRUST