It's this week's "Made with Michigan Hands."
TRAVERSE CITY -- The work at Pleasanton Brick Oven Bakery in Traverse City, starts at 4 a.m. everyday...hand crafting dough from scratch to turn into baked specialties.
"We are a bakery that makes artisan leavened breads. We have 14 varieties of breads. We use all organic flowers, all our whole grains are grown in Michigan," says bakery owner, Gerard Grabowski.
The bakery has been in the Grand Traverse Commons area for three years, but it started out in Manistee county 18 years ago. Grabowski says the local aspect gives the community a unique taste of everything from loafs of breads to a variety of bagels, even cookies.
"Fourteen different ingredients grown right here in Michigan as local as we can get them, right here in the Grand Traverse region that we put into our products and use our hands to make into good food for people locally....We shop local, buy labels for bread local. The money stays in the community and that's true for any business that buys local, stays right here in Michigan," says Grabowski.
As far as the customers go, Grabowski says they appreciate what goes into their local treats and the intricate process it takes to get there.
"We're lighting a fire in the a wood fire brick oven. We get that bread right there from the hearth. We have to do everything just so but they come in because they know we do it that way. We're hand shaping, we're hand scaling, we're getting all this break made by our efforts. Then people appreciate that," says Grabowski.
Some of the local places that you can find the bakery's goods include: The Village Farmers Market in Traverse City, Shop-N-Save in Benzonia and Port City Organics in Manistee.
If you would like nominate a business for our weekly "Made with Michigan Hands" segment please email Melissa Smith at: msmith@upnorthlive.com.
