Zingerman’s Bakehouse is an energetic group of dedicated bakers and food lovers committed to making and selling the best-tasting, traditionally made breads and pastries that we can imagine. We are real artisan bakers, which means that we use traditional methods, flavorful ingredients and primarily our hands to make our bread and sweet stuff. Our Bakehouse is a wholesale bakery selling to specialty food stores, cafés and restaurants in southeastern Michigan and northern Ohio. At the bakery, we also have our own retail store where you can buy all of the baked goods we make; lunch on our sandwiches, soup and quiche; as well as drink Zingerman’s Coffee Company’s own coffee. You can also buy Zingerman’s Creamery award-winning cheese and gelato that rivals any in Italy.

Where Did We Come From?

   By 1992, Zingerman’s Deli had been open for 10 years when Deli Founders Paul and Ari, in their ongoing efforts to improve the quality and flavor of the Deli’s food, made the move to bake their own bread. They contacted their longtime friend and Paul’s former business partner, Frank Carollo, and asked him if he’d like to open a bakery with them. After many long discussions, much research and training from master baker Michael London (of Mrs. London’s in Saratoga Springs, NY), Frank, Ari and Paul opened the Bakehouse in September ‘92.

   There were just eight of us then, possessed of lots of enthusiasm and courage, but not a lot of knowledge or experience. Among the original eight was Amy Emberling, who is now Frank’s co-managing partner in the business. We started as a simple artisan wholesale bread bakery with one customer. Driven by our passion for great bread and pastries and a desire to share them, we’ve grown and changed.

   In 1994, we started making pastries; in 1996, we opened a retail store. And now 85 of us gratefully serve over 100 wholesale customers and a steady stream of retail guests 7 days a week, 363 days a year.

    Without a doubt, our motivation for bringing artisan bread and pastry to Ann Arbor was partly selfish—we were tired of going to Paris or San Francisco to get the good stuff. Plain and simple, we love everything about great bread and pastry. We love to bake it. We love to eat it. We love to sell it. We love the extra bit of enjoyment it adds to the otherwise routine aspects of daily life. And we don’t ever want to be without it. Better baked goods aren’t just business for us—they’re a very, very personal representation of our values and our commitment to offering our customers full-flavored, traditionally made foods.

Who Are We?

    We’re just a bunch of nuts in the presence of nuts. We’re a wildly diverse group, which makes the Bakehouse an engaging and fun place to work. We are men and women, ages 15-67, from all over the world—China, Mexico, Germany, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Canada, and Ireland, each with different cultural, religious and political backgrounds. The few things that we all have in common are that we love great food and we are driven to share it with each other, our guests and our community. We want to have the chance to meet all of you, so please allow us to introduce ourselves…and come back next month to meet a few more of us.

Thanks for days gone by.

   Over the years we’ve had many wonderful co-workers who have helped the Bakehouse become what it is today and then have moved on to pursue other interests. Thank you wherever you are!!!! Please write to us and let us know where you are and how you are. Better yet visit us if you can!