baked founders

We like to think of ourselves as dessert experts; the kind of people blessed with a highly (almost holy) developed sense of taste and smell. Between our collective, we have eaten thousands of cakes and muffins and brownies (sometimes for dessert, sometimes as our only meal) and we have agonized over our dessert menu to the point of absurdity. T his little storefront is our ode to the perfect bakery and we call it, simply, baked.

Baked is owned and operated by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito.

history

Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito spent much of their youth (or what was left of it) in the world of advertising.  Matt, a producer, spent his days hidden away in a cubicle stuffed with spreadsheets, post-its, and relentless voice mails, while Renato spent his time in the more rarefied field of graphic design (i.e. making things look beautiful so people would buy them).  Their thoughts were never too far from cake and coffee.  Coincidentally, Matt and Renato met at a glitzy, high-profile ad agency (not, mind you, working on a glitzy high-profile account), and slowly (even unbeknownst to them) the idea for Baked was born.

Matt wanted to open a bakery that celebrated American desserts beyond the cupcake, and Renato had always been hankering to open a neighborhood cafe, so together they scoured New York City for the perfect location.  They found a small, storefront church in the largely industrialized section of Brooklyn, and together with Rafi Avramovitz, set about building their inspiration.  Finally, after many long delays, they opened Baked in 2005 on the shores of Red Hook, Brooklyn with just a few ovens, some mixers, and an espresso machine.

Baked is both a neighborhood spot, and a nationally recognized bakery.  Baked has been featured on the Martha Stewart Show, the Today Show, the Food Network, and the Style Network.  Baked has also received an awards from Time Out, French Culinary Institute, Citysearch, and America's Test Kitchen.   Oprah recognized their brownies as a "favorite thing" and they have written recipes for Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and many more.

Their first book, Baked:  New Frontiers in Baking was published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang in October 2008, and became a best-seller and was a favorite of NPR, People Magazine, Martha Stewart and Oprah.  And they just opened their second Baked in Charleston, South Carolina!