Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt.
Hi Matt, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Almost two years ago I found myself newly unemployed after my corporate job let me go and recently out of treatment for alcohol abuse. Not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and trying to keep myself occupied I spent A LOT of time in the kitchen. The kitchen has always felt like a familiar and comfortable place for me so I really enjoyed the extra time I had on my hands to cook and bake for my wife, her family, and our friends. My wife Caroline and the majority of her family are all Gluten Free and the first time I had a dedicated gluten free item I remember just how bad I thought it was so I asked her “is all gluten free food this bad?” to which her response was “yes, that’s just the way it is.” I couldn’t help but to be appalled and feel bad for all of those out there that were required to eat a gluten free diet. Knowing that I was going to have to being eating gluten free in our household and that up to that point Caroline was having to eat it I got to work testing recipes and studying gluten free production processes. Thankfully I had a full time recipe tester living in the house and since Caroline’s family meets for dinner almost every Sunday I also had them to test recipes on. From there it turned in to making more things for our family and friends and then their urging me to start offering my baked goods to the public. Caroline really wanted me to take my time to figure out which path I wanted to take with my next profession and the more time I spent in the kitchen and the more people thought I should start a bakery the more that idea seemed like my calling. So with no business name figured out yet and just an idea one of my wife’s clients said to me “You should name your business The Accidental Baker” and I thought that was perfect! My background was not in professional cooking or baking at all, before this I was a tennis professional and worked for the bank but cooking has always been a huge part of my life. Growing up in upstate NY in an Italian family we spent most of our time in and around the kitchen enjoying meals. I can remember being in the kitchen with my great grandmother, grandmother, grandfather, mother, etc. and everything revolved around food and the table. I’ve always loved making food for people and now I get the privilege of doing it every day! This business is 100% the hardest job I have ever had but not a single day has felt like work. Every day I get up and am thankful that the kitchen is where I get to spend my day and making delicious gluten free food is my act of service for the community to enjoy. If I can make just one person feel joy when eating my food then I am overjoyed. Now almost two years later we are booked several weeks in advance for online orders, we have partnered with several local businesses to provide our items to their gluten free customers, and when we have walk in service on Saturdays people line up 2 hours before the doors open and travel from hours away to enjoy our food. I could never have done this without the love and support of my wife Caroline; she is the inspiration behind the bakery. Without her love and support this business would not exist and I don’t know if I would have sought the help I needed to improve my life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Luckily, yes! Other than working a very large amount, juggling the rapid growth, and your typical business owner duties I would say it has been pretty smooth. The only “struggles” I would say I’ve had is figuring out all of the legal aspects that come with owning a food related business like safety, insurance, etc. I have had employees before so that was not new but having to manage this many (6) is a little different but very doable. I have also had the responsibility of supply chain before but never to this degree or for food products so thankfully I have had some experience with some of these in the past. It was the legal and financial unknowns, creating a website, taking online orders, etc. that were somewhat new to me. But…we’re making it happen…one day at a time!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a 100% dedicated gluten free bakery that specializes in artisanal breads, pastries, and other sweet items. We are probably known mostly for our gluten free bagels and sourdough. We just won runner up for the Charlotte Best of the Best awards for bagels and custom cakes so to be nominated among regular bakeries and bagel shops is amazing. We also specialize in laminated pastries like our cornetti, nutella cornetti, and danishes. I believe what also sets us apart from other bakeries are our ingredients. We use all of the organic products we can find, grass fed butter, farm raised eggs, and no seed oils. We have a large amount of customers that are not even gluten free that come to the bakery because of the quality of ingredients we use so we take a lot of pride in that. On Saturday’s for our walk in service we also have fun seasonal items that aren’t on the normal online menu!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would love to see multiple locations of the bakery as well as a place for customers to go to not only get our baked good but get prepared foods made on our freshly baked breads, bagels, etc!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theaccidentalbakerclt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_accidental_bakr/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556161731013
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-cabana-946b7a2a/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-accidental-baker-charlotte?osq=The+Accidental+Baker&dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yelp.com%2F
