When Ben Gitchel picked Hannah Withers up hitchhiking into Eureka Springs in 1995, it was fate. They soon found that they shared an interest in fine food, entrepreneurship and the Ozarks. After they married, Ben became obsessed with baking.
Ben had worked in a fine dining restaurant for years, and had been experimenting with brewing beer for some time. The combination of his natural talent for kitchen work and his fascination with yeast and fermentation led him to begin baking at home. He spent the winter of Hannah’s pregnancy baking dozens of croissants every night. He just felt like he could never get it “quite right.” After years of experimenting in his own kitchen, and baking bread with his boss at work, he decided to take his talents to the next level and find someone to teach him how bread and baking worked scientifically.
Ben, Hannah and their then 8-month-old son moved to New York City so that Ben could study artisan baking at the French Culinary Institute. He arrived home each night with the 15 different kinds of bread he had baked that day excited as a child on Christmas morning. After studying under some of the best bakers in the world, Ben graduated with a certificate
De Boulangerie. The rest is history.
The couple moved back to Arkansas and started the Little Bread Company; a commercial kitchen for wholesale breads and pastries in their garage in historic downtown Eureka Springs. With a loan from FORGE, they gutted the garage and built a modern bakery. On the week after Thanksgiving 2002 they delivered their first shipment of baked goods to a grocery store in Eureka Springs.
The formula proved a success. In 2006, with the help of a second FORGE loan, they opened a retail bakery and restaurant in Fayetteville's entertainment district. The Gitchels produce several different kinds of old world, artisan breads and many varieties of sandwiches, croissants, pastries and desserts.
The Gitchels are proud of their products. As Hannah says, “Our diverse variety of breads, bagels, and pastries are all simple and fresh. We’re always looking for more people to share our products with, and feel blessed that FORGE gave us the opportunity to bring quality artisan baking to the Ozarks. We’re thrilled to find so many people in this area supporting local
bakers.”
You can contact Hanna and Ben by calling 479-527-0622.
Forge, Inc. • P.O. Box 1138 • Huntsville,
AR 72740
(479)
738-1585 • FAX (479) 738-6288
Email: forge@forgeonline.com
Lending | Technical
Assistance | Community Development
|
