On the Rise to the Top
Around 6000 BC, in a common home that might or might not have had astonishing views of the pyramids, an Egyptian fixed an unremarkable bowl of porridge and then went to do something an ancient Egyptian might be wont to do—like draw some hieroglyphs or take care of a litter of cats. This bowl of unremarkable porridge sat unattended in the sun and started to mix with the naturally occurring yeast in the air, causing the porridge to rise. That was the abbreviated story of how bread began.
This is the story of Bread Bandits, a tale of two Canadian bakers named Jules Thuet and Brad Rutledge who decided to leave the Drake-adoring streets of Toronto and bring their baking operation to sunny Sarasota. Nestled comfortably on Osprey Avenue south of Siesta Drive, Bread Bandits are on a mission to provide locals with hand-made loaves of sourdough (white, multigrain, whole-wheat, rye) as well as baguettes, croissants, and seasonal tarts and Danishes.
The history of Bread Bandits truly begins in France in the late 1800s, with a sourdough starter and a passion for baking. Thulet’s great-grandmother passed down the starter through generations until it reached Thuet’s father, and finally Thuet.
“My dad brought the starter over when he moved to Canada at 21. He started some bakeries there that really took off, and that’s where I met Brad. He was the head baker at my family’s bakery.”
Then the pandemic hit, and Toronto came to a grinding halt. Thuet took this time to take a sojourn to Florida and visit his mother here in Sarasota, where he had an epiphany: “I really fell in love with the place … the people. And I asked myself, 'Why not open a bakery here?'" Thuet recalls. Although, it wouldn’t be without its obstacles. “People pigeonhole Florida as a place where you can’t make good bread … but you can. We have a filtration system as well as a softener that helps with the water issues. Florida has the best air conditioning I’ve ever seen. So really, we’re kind of controlling the climate. The humidity is a thing, but there’s dehumidifiers. There are challenges, but it doesn’t matter where you bake—you’ll have challenges,” Thuet continues.
One specific challenge faced by the Bandits was a skeptical public’s perception of gluten. In a climate where one can easily stay active 365 days a year, how could Thuet and Rutledge curry favor with a health-conscious community like Sarasota who’ve undoubtedly been influenced by a gluten-adverse mainstream?
“We hear all the time from customers that they can eat European bread, but not the bread from the States … so it’s clearly not the gluten. Gluten is simply an easy target. It was sugars for a while, then fats. Go to the grocery store and flip around that loaf of bread … there’s 15 ingredients in there. Our bread is [only] flour, water, and salt. Sometimes caraway seeds and other natural ingredients, but none of the additives,” Thuet says.
That sentiment seems to be a point of pride for Bread Bandits. As genetic modification and mass production ominously find more foods to quietly exploit, Thuet and Rutledge have a rebellious, almost DIY punk rock operation. “Everything is handmade. Everything is with our hands. The only machines that we use are our mixers and the sheeter … but that’s manually operated for the croissants,” Thuet says. “It’s all handmade, all baked fresh daily. We’re bringing in our flour now from a French distributor, so it’s not enriched.”
As for what to order—a decidedly subjective decision in regards to sourdough—Thuet has some advice: “Try the organic sourdough, or the multigrain, which I think is our most delicious loaf, and then our classic French sourdough baguette. And our croissants. I’d put our croissants up against anyone’s. They’re very good. They’re made with European butter and have over 55 layers of butter and dough. People also love our quiche. We’re selling a lot of those.”
And though the future may be unpredictable, Bread Bandits have a focused plan of action. They’ve started to distribute their bread in local restaurants, ramped up a wholesale operation, and even set up their production to accommodate deliveries 365 days a year—something restaurant owners should be ecstatic to hear. They also plan to expand their offerings in the very near future with savory sandwiches and salads, as well as delivery through Uber Eats.
If there’s one thing they don’t plan to do anytime soon, it’s skip town. “The reception from the community has been fantastic,” Thuet says. “We’re so happy we moved down here. We really have some of the best customers, and we see them daily.”
Bread Bandits: 3546 S Osprey Ave, Sarasota, 941-413-5112; breadbandits.com
