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SHORT ORDERS
[ S T. L O U I S S TA N D A R D S ]
Baked in Tradition Missouri Baking Company has been doing it right since 1924 Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
M
imi ordo knows she might surprise customers with her response when they call in looking for authentic Italian pastries from Missouri Baking Company, but she needs to set expectations. “ eople will call in looking for cassata cake around the holidays, and they remember how their grandma made it,” ordo says. “I always tell them that ours is good, but it’s probably not as good as their grandmother’s. Really, it’s those memories that make things so special. It’s all based around tradition. That’s what makes something authentic Italian.” If tradition and memories are the cornerstones of Italian baking, then ordo and her brother, Chris Gambaro, are holding up a temple to old-world tradition at their Hill institution, Missouri Baking Company. Since 1924, this beloved bakery, located in the heart of St. ouis’ Italian neighborhood, has been serving bread, pastries and cookies to anyone searching for a sweet taste of the old country. In fact, that’s why it was founded in the first place. In the early 1920s, Missouri Baking Company’s patriarch, Stefano ambaro, was living with his family in northern Italy when he got word from St. ouis that his services were needed. respected baker, Stefano was contacted by the owners of the iconic aravelli’s who wanted him to move to town to make bread for their booming south St. ouis cafeteria. Stefano agreed and immigrated to the United States, setting up Missouri Baking Company as a wholesale bread operation. His work at the bakery was un-
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RIVERFRONT TIMES
Not much has changed at Missouri Baking Company, even as new generations has taken over the operation. | NYARA WILLIAMS
The shop is still the spot on the Hill for all the traditional favorites. |NYARA WILLIAMS fortunately short-lived. Stefano passed away in his s, leaving behind a wife and six young children. To support the family, the elder children quit school and worked at the bakery, eventually joined by the younger ones as they became old enough to work. hris ambaro and ordo’s father, en, may have been the youngest of the siblings, but he was
JUNE 23-29, 2021
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no less dedicated than the older ones. arly on, he figured out that the bakery could do both wholesale and retail to meet the neighborhood’s demand for authentic Italian cookies and pastries. “The story goes that people from the neighborhood would knock on the door and ask, ‘Could you make me a cake ’” ambaro says. “So they said, Sure, we’ll make
you a cake.’ Then they’d ask for bread, then seeded cookies. More and more of that happened, and eventually, they went less and less wholesale and more toward retail.” Because the Hill neighborhood had several wholesale bread bakers, Ben saw that Missouri Baking Company could do better as a retail shop. ventually, the bakery converted strictly to retail, and has been serving the area as a walkup and specialty order shop for decades. Missouri Baking Company may have changed its business model, but that’s about all that is different since its founding. hen his siblings wanted to retire, Ben bought them out and ran it until he was ready to quit working. He then sold it to his children, Gambaro and ordo, who continue to run the place as close to how it was when their grandfather founded it back in the mids. owever, ordo notes that, even though they are committed to tradition, the bakery has had to adapt to changing tastes. “ e’ve had to adjust with the times to meet what people are buying today,” says ordo. “I’d say probably percent of the pas-
