Daily Inspiration: Meet Joshua Bellamy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Bellamy

Hi Joshua, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Boulted Bread opened it’s doors on South Street in August 2014. At the time, the three of us owners and founders barely knew one another and we’d just gone through a self-taught crash course in how to open a bakery. We had some broken down equipment, a space we renovated ourselves (poorly), and a lot of big dreams. Not really a winning recipe for a successful bakery but, coupled with a healthy amount of blissful ignorance, it’s what we had.

The first several years were tough. The baking was the easy part because it was the only thing we really knew and had a modicum of confidence with. With a lot of grace from our staff and our customers we increased our baking consistency and our leadership skills. By our third year we were able to pick our heads up and see that we had accidentally created a really special spot in the community. We had poured so much of ourselves into our bread and pastry and it was clear that what we were doing connected with our customers in meaningful way. Since then, we’ve just tried our hardest not to mess the whole thing up.

A common thread throughout the years has been our focus on flavor. We mill most of our flour in-house on our stone mill. We then thoughtfully ferment that flour to complement the flavors of the various grains we use. We utilize the highest quality local ingredients we can get our hands on for our rotating cast of amazing pastries. We keep our coffee program simple and focused in order to propel quality over quantity. Most importantly, we do our best to make meaningful connections with our customers as we believe that everything tastes better when you feel at home.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road wasn’t smooth in the slightest but, looking back, it was really the only road we could’ve taken. It was the only road that felt right. We learned and grew with each bump and pothole along the way.

There were many struggles…Covid, broken equipment, some low-key arson. But perhaps the most challenging struggle has been developing a predictable and comfortable environment for our amazing staff. We were fortunate early on to have an amazing team willing to work hard and forgive our significant flaws as leaders. While work is always going to be work, I believe that Boulted has really developed into a decent place to work and grow.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve always appreciated that craft of baking can be viewed through many different lenses. As a person who struggles to stay focused, this allows me to engage with the process on many different levels depending on my mood and current inclination. That being said, my personal north star with baking has always been flavor. My personal goal is to always extract as much flavor as possible for any product we produce at Boulted Bread.

This all begins with choosing high quality ingredients. We seek out flavorful varieties of ancient and heritage grains from a few farms on the east coast and out in Kansas. We use high fat butter, local milk and cream, and whatever seasonal and local produce that local farmers and particularly stoked on. This is a good start, but only tells part of the story.

It’s imperative that we treat these high quality ingredients with a tremendous amount of respect. We do our best to employ tools and techniques that allow the natural flavors to shine without competing with one another. One of our primary tools to achieve this goal is 48″ New American Stone Mill. Everyday we mill hundreds of pounds of grain into whole grain or high extraction flour. We believe that this fresh flour (treated respectfully) leads to bread and pastry that is inherently more flavorful, aromatic, and nutritious.

Baking is important to me in ways that I often fail to fully capture or recognize. I take the ethos described above very seriously but, ultimately it’s a tangible description of a very intangible relationship. It’s as natural and as deeply ingrained as my heartbeat.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Last Saturday morning I got into work at Boulted at around 5am. I got a cup of coffee and helped the bread crew shape a bunch of baguettes, ciabatta, and focaccia. Then I spent some time hanging around the pastry table as the pastry team organized all of the fresh croissants and cookies coming out of the ovens onto sheet trays to display at the front counter. I then spent some time with a leaf blower cleaning off the sidewalk in front of the shop.

As the coffee and counter crew started trickling in I was able to take a step back and take it all in. About a dozen folks who woke up early to bake some amazing bread and pastry to serve to our community. Everyone was working hard toward a common goal and having fun along the way. That’s as close to success as I could ask for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://boultedbread.com
• Instagram: @boultedbread