Resources
The Give Thanks Bakery & Café
A Heavenly Calling
He used to be a marketing guy, most recently supervising Chrysler and Jeep advertising in international markets. But after 39 years, Gerald Matthes decided to channel his creativity in a different direction-the art of baking. He opted out of the corporate world, motivated by a desire to do something more profound with his life. Now he owns and operates The Give Thanks Bakery & Café in Rochester, Michigan. Matthes is representative of a growing number of Americans now blurring the distinction between their professional and private lives. No longer satisfied to simply earn a paycheck, more people are choosing careers that allow them to blend their work skills with their personal interests. Matthes was drawn to the honesty and authenticity of making bread the slow, simple way it was done in the past. He was also intent on forming a business mission that went beyond making money. "We do want to make a profit," he said, "but we also want make a positive impact in our community."
Led by providence
Matthes had always been vaguely aware that he descended from a family of bakers, but never had much interest in carrying on the tradition himself. Then a series of small events he came to see as "divine nudges" began to pique his interest.
Years ago, a relative sent him an old photograph of a German guesthouse and bakery located in a small village near what today is Württemberg. It had belonged to his great, great uncle. Then in 1985, Matthes took a business trip to Germany. With only the village name and the photo in hand, he set out with his best friend to see if he could find the old building. He discovered it in the nick of time; it was scheduled to be renovated into apartments just five days later. He asked the owner's permission to look around inside, where he came across a 200-year-old German prayer book in the attic. Inside, he found the signature of his great, great aunt, Anna Matthes. The experience motivated Matthes to research his family heritage a little further, and he learned that he came from a line of bakers six generations long. Johann Conrad Matthes started it all in the late 1700s. Johann's son followed in his footsteps, as did at least three of his grandsons.
A trial run
The more Gerald Matthes learned about his ancestry, the more intrigued he became with the idea of reconnecting with it and possibly opening an artisan bakery himself. "I was drawn by the opportunity to make something that tastes so wonderful that even people who aren't well versed in bread will say 'what a difference,'" he said.
He enjoyed baking the crispy loaves at home (ruining his wife's oven with his water sprayer he admits), but wondered whether he had what it took to turn his hobby into a business. He decided to talk with other professionals before making any decisions, seeking advice from some of the best artisan bakers in the business. He spent time with Daniel Leader at his bakery, Bread Alone, as well as Michael London, of Mrs. London's in Saratoga Springs, NY. That boosted his interest. Then he trained at the National Baking Center under Didier Rosada, "and that cemented it," he said. He interned at a bakery in Michigan every Friday night for a year, "to see if it was something I could really do-whether I could hold up to the physical demands of baking."
Finally, in 1998 Matthes determined the time was right and retired from his marketing job, opening The Give Thanks Bakery & Café in 1999. The quaint shop is tucked behind Main Street in downtown Rochester. Matthes chose the location because he believes a bakery should be part of the fabric of the community. "Rochester is a quiet, intimate place where people go about living their daily lives. That was the kind of setting we wanted for the bakery."
A unique approach to bread baking
Every bit European in its approach, The Give Thanks Bakery offers a few dozen handcrafted breads, just as many delicious pastries, and a collection of unique packaged goods and gifts-everything from handmade children's sweaters to preserves, dipping oils and pestos. However, it's the bakery's unique approach to bread making that distinguishes it from most bakeries.
Breads are made using a technique that combines natural starters with a double retardation process to lend more flavor and longer shelf life to the breads. No commercial yeast is used at all. Instead, all the breads get their lift from one of four different types of starters: a classic levain, a stiff biga, a pate fermentée, or a poolish. The starters undergo 15 to 18 hours of retardation, depending on which type, before being mixed into the final dough. Then, after the loaves are preshaped or fully shaped, they go through another 15-hour retardation period. "It's only on the third day that the loaves are baked," Matthes said. "The result is two-fold. It creates wonderfully complex flavors in the bread, but it also keeps it from staling quickly, which is important when people are paying $4 or $5 a loaf." Most of the bakery's breads last 3 to 4 days, and the rye breads keep well as long as 5 days.
The bakery offers a broad selection of breads, ranging from classic baguettes, ciabatta and special natural grain breads, to Volkornbrot (a traditional whole rye), savory breads like Potato-Onion and Dill, and delicious breakfast breads such as Michigan Cherry Chocolate, authentic Jewish Challah, and Kugelhopf, a mildly sweet cake-like bread for dessert, tea or brunch.
Best sellers
Swiss Multigrain is the biggest seller. It's made from a biga starter and wheat sprouts, sprouted right in the bakery to achieve the perfect degree of sweetness. The Seeded Levain, another popular favorite, now outsells the bakery's plain version. It features a mild sourness not at all like the California-style sourdoughs. A mixture of sunflower, flax and sesame seeds gives the bread a hearty and interesting twist.
The pastries are almost too pretty to eat. They include specialties from a wide range of countries, with special emphasis on French, Italian and German faire. You'd have to go straight to Bavaria to find products rivaling the bakery's authentic Sacher torte, and other German delicacies including poppyseed strudel, apple strudel, heavenly seven-layer cake (Dobos), and classic German cookies. The staff also produces a number of cakes based on recipes from Tuscany. To appeal to an American audience looking for European-style products, the bakery recently introduced muffins and Danish featuring the lower sweetness levels more typical of Europe.
Expanding its wholesale business, the bakery recently developed a custom miniature loaf with button mushrooms and Asiago cheese for the Golden Mushroom, a highly regarded local restaurant. It has also developed a ciabatta dinner roll with pimentos and pesto for one of Rochester's prestigious country clubs.
A talented staff
Custom products require a level of experimentation, and Matthes appreciates having a talented staff that can do it. Noel Black leads the bread side of things. A Michigan native and Culinary Arts graduate, Black spent six months in Minneapolis, MN as Didier Rosada's assistant. "I doubt that there's another bakery in the country where a 25-year old is making such great bread," Matthes said. On the pastry side, the bakery's incredibly skilled pastry chef, Rick Michels, brings particular expertise in creating German specialties and beautifully decorated tortes and cakes.
Matthes considers himself blessed by the bakery's growth-sales have increased steadily since it opened. However, he doesn't want to grow so fast that he compromises production standards. "I tend to be a little impatient; I want to get in and get things tackled quickly. I've learned that with bread, you must develop patience. It's helping to iron out that kink in my personality," he said.
It's a continual challenge though. "There are plenty of shortcuts a bakery could take, but we've resisted them consistently and I think it's paid off, " Matthes said. " The positive press and accolades we've received indicate that people can taste the difference."