New Bakery Coming: An Interview with Bread Baker Dustin Cutler

Bibliochef: I hear you’re opening a place in Geneva, NY that will specialize in selling breads you make. Can you tell us a bit about the place? Does it have a name yet? A location? An expected date of opening? A web site?

Dustin: I recently purchased 111 Washington Street to house my bakery. The building was built in 1855 and was most recently a liquor store, but it has been a food market and butcher shop in the past. I do not have a name for my bakery yet but I am open to suggestions. To let me know your ideas. . . .

Bibliochef: Let us know when you pick a name and we'll update people! Meanwhile, I’ve had your bread (as you know) so this may sound like an odd question but: why bread? How did you come to be a bread baker? And what do you like about it?

Dustin: I like bread. The smell, the taste, the texture. A memory I enjoy from childhood involved a 2 inch thick piece of bread topped with melted cheddar cheese from a market in downtown Salt Lake City. During College the idea of making bread for a living (pun intended) started to blossom when I discovered a chain of bread shops known as Great Harvest. While I never worked there I did enjoy getting my sandwich bread from them. And finally with my wife taking a job in Geneva, I realized that I needed to make my own job. . .

Bibliochef: Well, bread lovers are lucky! Can you take me through the day of a bread baker? Do you bake in the morning? Do you listen to music while you bake? What sort of equipment do you use?

Dustin: I'll be beginning my days at 4am to ensure that most breads are available by midday. I plan on having music playing at all times. I currently have a 4 deck Bongard Steam-tube Oven powered by Natural Gas. My mixer is a Phoebus 50 pound fork mixer.

Bibliochef: Can you describe the process of making one of your breads?
Dustin: Perhaps, you should come make bread with me and I will walk you through my process. Consider this an invitation!

Bibliochef: Good idea! Watch here for a description when Bibliochef goes out! So, what make a bread excellent?
Dustin: If it pleases the taste buds, it is excellent.
Bibliochef: Okay, what sorts of bread will you be selling at your place?
Dustin: All types of bread in the beginning with an emphasis on Sourdough French and Italian breads.
Bibliochef: Do you have a favorite bread you make?
Dustin: So far I am enjoying the process of making all types of breads, I am sure that in 20 years one will stick out more than the others but for now I enjoy them all the same.
Bibliochef: If your bread starred in a movie, what would the movie be? Why?
Dustin: Hmmm.......
Bibliochef: Bread reminds me of sandwiches, cheeses, spreads and dips. What do you want folks to eat with your bread?
Dustin: Anything they want. There is no wrong way to eat bread.
Bibliochef: Who would you most like to walk into your store one day and buy bread from you?
Dustin: Richard Rice, the baker in Grand Manan who allowed me to apprentice under
him at his North Head Bakery, pictured here. That's me with him at the top of the interview!

Bibliochef: Now for some not-so-bread oriented questions! What’s the absolutely best meal you have ever had? What made it the best meal?
Dustin: I have had many best meals ever, but the one I have enjoyed the most since moving here is the Shrimp and Grits at Maxies Supper Club in Ithaca. Consistently Superb!
Bibliochef: What music, films, books related to food would you recommend? Why?
Dustin: A movie I enjoyed was "Big Night", about two Italian Cooks trying to save their restaurant. It made me hungry, and it still does.

Bibliochef: What do you eat for comfort food?
Dustin: Bread.
Bibliochef: Do you have a favorite restaurant in the Finger Lakes?
Dustin: I enjoy eating at all of the following restaurants, Stonecat Café, excellent pulled pork! Ports Cafe, the Shrimp and Chicken in peanut Sauce, YUM Madderlake Café, still feeling my way thru the menu to find my "rut" menu item. Sweet Sue's on 5& 20 a bit west of Geneva. Excellent home fries, and you can't beat the ambiance! And, as I said before, Maxie's in Ithaca, the shrimp and grits.