Jennifer Latham labored for practically three a long time in eating places, together with at Tartine Bakery as its director of bread for San Francisco and Los Angeles. She’s written a number of books about bread and grains. All of that experience was in her head as she was serious about her subsequent skilled step.
“My past love is sourdough bread, and I additionally actually love making croissants,” Latham says. “I wished to make an area the place I may simply make bread. It type of feels like a easy want, however loads of bakeries are actually huge and doing wholesale and baking via the evening. As a enterprise proprietor, you find yourself operating operations and never attending to bake a lot. I wished to construct just a little nook bakery the place I may simply make as a lot bread as I could make and make some croissants and do some espresso.”
Mama Bread
Fortunately for Nashville, Latham determined to place down roots in Inglewood. She opened her dream bakery in East Nashville, and since Mama Bread began baking final month, it has been the subject of many foodie conversations. Butter, chocolate and ham-and-cheese croissants can be found at 8 a.m. Bread is on the market at 10 a.m. There’s a small market with produce from Bloomsbury Farm, plus oil, honey, rice and different pantry staples. Latham plans so as to add salads and sandwiches within the close to future, however she’s not fairly prepared.
“We bought type of slammed off the bat with bread and pastries,” she says. “We’re simply making an attempt to do a number of easy issues very well and actually dial these issues in earlier than we add extra.”
Mama Bread is positioned at 1600 Woodland St., within the former Italia constructing. Groceries, And many others., a brand new vinyl bar, is coming to the identical deal with, which can be the relocated house of Lemon Laine magnificence store. When Latham first got here to have a look at the property, she remembers, she parked out entrance, and “simply sat there for half an hour and watched individuals transfer across the neighborhood, individuals strolling round with strollers and operating into one another and strolling and speaking. The tempo of the neighborhood is simply beautiful, and the group on this nook that existed earlier than I even did this was already robust. I knew I’d by no means discover a higher spot for my little nook bakery.”
Latham is all in favour of meals programs and regenerative agriculture and is usually in conversations with others about native grain programs.
“One factor that form of comes up generally after I’m speaking with of us is learn how to scale up regenerative agriculture,” she says. “How will we get extra good meals to extra individuals? I actually really feel that’s the improper query. I really feel like cutting down and doing extra of it’s form of one of the simplest ways to get the perfect, freshest elements to extra individuals.
“We’ve got so many nice bakeries in Nashville and in East Nashville,” Latham continues. “Dozen does stunning bread. Butterlamp is making beautiful bread. Lillian St. is making stunning bread. The oldsters at People and Rolf [& Daughters] are making beautiful bread. I believe, relatively than me making an attempt to make 2,000 loaves of bread a day, I believe if there are extra of us simply baking 200 actually good loaves of bread a day. That’s one of the simplest ways to form of get good meals in the neighborhood. As a result of if I’m making an attempt to make 2,000 loaves a day, then I’m not making it proper anymore.”
Present hours at Mama Bread are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday via Sunday, with plans to develop to seven days every week down the highway.
