June 8, 2025 • 44 mins
(00:55) Kate Clemons reveals the journey of Brown Bear Bread Company, a story of passion, persistence, and finding your true calling. What began in 2020 as home baking experiments during the pandemic transformed into a church basement operation, then a full café in Mount Oliver, and finally found its perfect home in New Brighton's vibrant small-town setting.
(10:03) Their five-year-old sourdough starter (affectionately named Phil) brings distinctive character to their breads – especially their cult-favorite sourdough English muffins that require a full two days of preparation. Kate shares how customers with gluten sensitivities often find they can enjoy Brown Bear's naturally fermented sourdough when commercial breads cause problems.
Despite having "Bread" in their name, Brown Bear has evolved into a comprehensive bakery experience. From laminated pastries and custom cakes to savory options and weekend brunch, Kate and her partners Dan and Kaylie have created a menu that balances artisan techniques with approachable favorites. Their philosophy is simple: make food they themselves would want to eat, using straight forward ingredients.
(23:21) What makes this story so fascinating is Kate's own evolution from classically trained opera singer to passionate baker and business owner. Her early experience at a patisserie during college planted seeds that would later bloom into Brown Bear Bread Company, demonstrating how life's journey often takes unexpected but meaningful turns.
Whether you're a sourdough enthusiast, looking for a destination-worthy baked treat, or simply inspired by small business success stories, Brown Bear Bread Company offers something special. Visit them in New Brighton, catch them at local farmers markets, or follow their mouthwatering Instagram feed to experience handcrafted baking at its finest.
(36:38) Ashley Cesaratto continues our trip Beaver county with a recommendation to Biba, and Dagny Como brings us back to the home kitchen with a suggestion for up-leveled beef tallow french fries. Bring your ears and appetite!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
How did a location move help toredefine one bakery's vision?
We get the story from KateClemons of Brown Bear Bread
Company.
Ashley Cesaratto shares notonly a great dining spot but
also a lesson on how to be agood neighbor.
(00:23):
And how do you level up thego-to side for burgers on the
grill.
Dagny Como shares a cooking tipfor some great french fries at
home.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
The Pittsburgh Dish issupported by Chef Alekka LLC For
(00:44):
cooking classes, parties orcatering.
Just visit her website atchefalekkacom to explore menus
and book a date.
Now on to the show.
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Kate (00:59):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
Doug (01:01):
Would you introduce yourself to our listeners and
what you have going on right nowin the world of food?
Kate (01:09):
Oh my gosh.
Hi everybody.
My name is Kate Clemons.
I am part owner of Brown BearBread Company.
We are a bakery slash cafe outin New Brighton in Beaver County
.
There's big things happeningout there in Beaver County so we
are happy to be a part of that.
Um, and then what am I doingright now in food?
That's what you want to know.
(01:29):
Yeah, so, uh, basically my roleat the company is um front of
house stuff I do the peoplestuff yeah um, I do the social
media, I do some baking, um, butmostly I'm interacting with
customers, clients, wholesaleclients, things like that.
Um, I'm the one that they'regoing to email to talk about
their orders, all of that jazz.
So I'm living a lot in thesocial media world, trying to,
(01:51):
you know, push Brown Bear evenfarther that way because I like
doing it and it's, it'sinteresting.
Yeah, just trying to get outthere and like get as much out
of the free marketing that youcan, I completely understand.
Yeah, yeah, like I don't know,it goes pretty well, and so I'm
just trying to utilize that asmuch as possible.
(02:12):
Um, so that's kind of what I'vebeen thinking about a lot
lately.
Doug (02:15):
All right, yeah, now tell me a little bit about the back
of the house, like who's doingsome of the baking right now.
Kate (02:21):
Sure.
So, um, my partner, dan DanGalusha, he is our bread baker,
Um, he, and Kaylie Carini is ourum pastry chef owner and she
also does bread baking as well.
We all, we all kind of share alittle bit of responsibility.
I'm sure you have to yeah, weliterally have to, because, um,
we are a very small business andthere's only three of us that
(02:43):
basically run everything.
So there's kind of round theclock baking going on.
Yeah, yeah, as much as we can.
My partner, Dan, and I justmoved to Beaver, actually to be
closer to the bakery, and it'sreally nice.
I'm very excited.
Doug (02:59):
Yes, reduce that commute.
Kate (03:01):
Yes, let's reduce that commute and I feel like we're
able to like we're going to beable to get a lot more done and
I'm really looking forward tothat.
Doug (03:09):
Now I want to just do a little bit of history about the
company.
Yeah, you guys startedsomewhere around Carnegie in
like a church basement, was thatright?
Dagny (03:17):
Yeah.
Doug (03:18):
Yeah, so what year was that?
Kate (03:19):
Okay, I was thinking back.
I Okay, I was thinking back, Ibelieve, 2021.
Okay, yeah, so Dan and I movedhere.
We're from New York, we're fromupstate New York and we moved
here in 2020 and April 2020.
Doug (03:31):
Oh boy, it was wild yeah.
Kate (03:33):
There was nobody on the road.
No, you probably had a reallyfalse sense of, wow, the
commuting here will be great.
I really did Doug like for realA couple months, you, you know,
like after vaccines came outand things, all of a sudden.
I remember driving and beinglike what, where did they?
Doug (03:47):
come from where?
Kate (03:49):
where are these people coming from?
Doug (03:51):
you're like I've never had a problem with these tunnels,
ever, oh and then I learned yeah, yeah, well anyway.
Kate (03:56):
So um, dan and I met and he was an executive chef, oh,
and um had been for many, manyyears and kind of slowly started
transitioning into baking.
Ashley (04:06):
Um.
Kate (04:06):
I think it just kind of started to like make sense to
him and when he gets an idea hegets like obsessed with an idea.
And he so he really did andbought so many books and really
started teaching himself.
And, uh, we decided to juststart baking out of our house
for a while just for like familyfriends, you know nothing,
crazy.
And then people were like hey,this is good.
(04:28):
There's some really good stuffhere.
Doug (04:30):
Okay.
Kate (04:30):
So then, uh, there was a church in Carnegie and they
actually closed, but, um, while,uh, we, we were renting out the
basement kitchen, I don't knowtwo days a week, maybe, just
baking like as much as we could,and tiny little ovens in in
Dutch ovens, like it's so funnyto see how far we've come from
the evolution of it all right.
Yeah, yeah, Like I think backto when we were in the church
(04:52):
basement baking.
Dan would go in and he wouldbake every single loaf in a
Dutch oven.
Dagny (04:58):
a cast iron Dutch oven yeah.
Kate (04:59):
In like a regular home oven that was in a church
basement and it took forever.
Like if we had an order of like20 loaves it would take so long
.
Doug (05:10):
I can't.
Imagine.
Kate (05:12):
Yeah, we just kind of did that for like a year, um wild.
And then we met Kaylie Cariniand, um, she is a a very
established pastry chef, reallyfocused on like cake design and
cake decorating, custom cakes,and she's fabulous at it.
I feel like our cake businessis really starting to pick up
these days.
So if you didn't know now youknow everyone that brown bear
(05:33):
does custom cakes.
So come to us with any of yourcrazy ideas and we'll try to
make it happen.
Doug (05:39):
I definitely want to get to the menu, because there is
actually so much more on therethan just a bakery.
Kate (05:45):
Yeah, I would say so.
Doug (05:46):
Yeah, I think your last post.
I just saw chicken salad andsome other stuff.
Kate (05:50):
So I'm like wait, just posted that, yeah, so you know.
Okay, I know you wanted to getinto like the history.
I'm sorry I could.
Doug (05:57):
I could go off track and talk it's all good, it's all
good, I'm taking us off track.
Kate (06:01):
Okay, no, I'm a yapper.
Doug (06:02):
Well, let's keep following this path.
Kate (06:05):
So from Carnegie.
Doug (06:06):
I know at some point you moved up to Mount Oliver.
Kate (06:08):
Yes, we did in 2023.
We basically hit the groundrunning as like a full service
cafe.
Yes, and that's kind of whatthe space called for.
Doug (06:19):
That's how you and I first met.
Kate (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, you came to the shop, yeah, all of a sudden
exploded.
Doug (06:25):
Yes.
Kate (06:25):
Fall of 2023.
We were nowhere near ready andit was absolutely wild.
It was amazing and challengingand unsustainable and there were
many reasons that it wasunsustainable and I don't you
know like I won't go into likewhat was really.
Doug (06:43):
There's a lot of behind the scenes, yeah.
Kate (06:55):
Um, but basically, um, it came down to, you know, building
issues that were neveraddressed and that we, um, just
as a business couldn't deal with, as a food business couldn't,
couldn't deal with, and we endedup, you know, seeing this space
in New Brighton and people arepeople really thought we were
insane, like for real.
Doug (07:03):
To move out to New Brighton To move to New Brighton
.
Kate (07:05):
Yeah, so well, in 2023,.
During that year in MountOliver, it was crazy.
We had a great time.
We learned so much.
My business partner, kaylee, waspregnant.
She gave birth last year, lastsummer, all of these things just
happening all at the same time.
I look back on it and I'm likeI don't.
(07:30):
I hardly remember any of that,cause it was so stressful.
How did we do it?
How do we?
I have no idea.
So, um, it was a great time, itwas a beautiful space.
I I am thankful for everyonethat I met because of us being
there, but I think that at theend of the day, it also just
didn't really align with what we, like, really wanted to be
doing.
Doug (07:43):
Yeah, you were still in an almost a rapid experimentation
kind of moment, right.
Kate (07:49):
Yeah, and we're.
I mean literally flying by theseat of our pants, like you know
we we really dove in headfirst.
We all quit whatever we weredoing and just went in to do
this thing and I'm so glad thatwe did.
But it was awful and reallyhard for a long time.
Doug (08:06):
Sometimes you have to do it to know what you don't want
to do.
Yeah, 100%.
Kate (08:09):
I wish my parents could hear that hey, mom, you
listening.
Doug (08:17):
So when did you then make that leap to New Brighton?
Kate (08:20):
Yeah, so we knew that we wanted to move and we were
thinking about all of thesedifferent places.
Um, kaylee and her husband livein New Brighton and they have
for many years and they're likewe really like it here.
It's very cute, you know.
And, um, her husband wastalking to the owner of the
grocery store there in NewBrighton food land and talking
about the business and lookingfor a new space, whatever.
(08:41):
And he's like, oh hey, comecheck this out, I got a space.
Okay, looking for a new spacewhatever.
And he's like oh, hey, comecheck this out, I got a space,
okay.
So he goes and looks at it,sends us some pictures and is
like guys, I think you shouldcheck this out.
So at first I was like no, thisis crazy, this is insane, oh my
God.
And then we all took a fieldtrip and we all looked at the
space and everybody Dan andKaylie were like this is what we
need.
Dagny (09:01):
Like this is perfect.
Kate (09:02):
It was the first space that we looked at, the only
space that we looked at, and itjust felt right and the the
price was right.
I mean it just, it just madeperfect sense we are aligning
yeah.
Yeah, and you know we wanted togo back to being a bakery that
sometimes serves food, becausewe all not to like toot our own
(09:22):
horn or anything, but we makereally good food.
Doug (09:26):
I will not disagree, thank you.
Kate (09:28):
I really appreciate that.
Um, Dan and Kaylie are bothreally just.
They just know what to do inthe kitchen as far as like
putting flavors together, andthey really care about making
things from scratch.
Like not, we don't really buyanything Sausage.
Like we make as much as wepossibly can, even our sausage
these days we're making Really.
Yeah, dan was like I can justmake this.
Doug (09:49):
Let's take our listeners to your shop right now.
Sure If they were to visit andthey haven't visited before.
As you just said, you are abakery most days, but what are
we experiencing when we go toBrown Bear?
Kate (10:03):
Sure.
So let's say it's like aSaturday.
Doug (10:06):
Let's go on a Saturday, yeah.
Kate (10:08):
We do serve food on the weekends only Okay, because
during the week we are doing alot of production for wholesale
accounts.
So when you walk in on aSaturday, you're going to see a
brunch menu or takeout menurather.
Doug (10:19):
All right.
Kate (10:23):
And you're going to see a couple different options,
usually only four or five, andit will be two staple items and
then three or two or threethings that rotate depending on
what we want to make.
Doug (10:30):
Is it like breakfast sandwiches or like a breakfast
pizza or stuff like that?
Kate (10:34):
Yeah, yeah.
So we always have a breakfastsandwich on the menu, if you
have been to our previousiteration.
I have and I did the famousbrown bear breakfast sandwich is
still on the menu.
It's a sourdough English muffin, homemade breakfast sausage,
fried egg, cheddar and a fancysauce that we make.
Doug (10:52):
And I'm going to just dot in here.
We'll get to the breads in asecond.
But I will say my mom and dadare now obsessed with the
sourdough English muffins andhappily I can usually find them
at Dagny's because it's reallyclose to my house.
Kate (11:05):
Yes, excellent, that's good news.
Doug (11:07):
Breakfast sandwich is delicious.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Kate (11:10):
Yeah, hot food on weekends , but we try to have some kind
of grab and go option in ourrefrigerated case for the rest
of the week.
Doug (11:17):
Yes, yeah.
Kate (11:18):
Like when we're open through the rest of the week.
You know, we we try to havethings like hummus and chicken
salad, because what goes betterwith bread?
Than spreads and dips andbutters that we make, and then
lately we've been trying to domore grab-and-go lunchy foods
throughout the week in therefrigerator case.
Doug (11:37):
Because you do have foot traffic up there, right yeah?
Kate (11:39):
Well, we're right next to the state store.
Oh, there you go.
And you know Beaver's a drytown, not county, so you got to
go elsewhere to go to the statestore.
Oh, there you go.
Doug (11:45):
And you know, beavers are dry town, not County.
So you got to go elsewhere togo to the state store
Interesting Right, maybe reallygood positioning.
Kate (11:51):
I know, yeah, yeah, I mean I can't.
It's it's a very busy statestore.
So, um, yeah, we try to have,you know, just like some things.
If, oh man, I'm hungry, I needsomething to eat, I don't want
to go to the grocery store, Idon't want to go to the
drive-thru, like, let's see what, what Brown Bear has, yeah,
we're always trying to keepthose sorts of things in mind,
like last week.
Um, we made some burnt endswith some leftover pork from
(12:15):
making sausage, and thencoleslaw and cornbread in a
little thing.
Wonderful, yeah, you just grabthat and you take it home and
heat it up if you want to eat it.
It's yeah.
So we're just trying to dostuff that we would want to eat
honestly.
Also.
Then my business partner,kaylee's husband, sometimes
comes in and helps us cook andcome up with things, and he made
(12:36):
a meatball meal like meatballsand garlic bread that's in the
fridge right now.
Doug (12:39):
Oh my, and you're adding all of these things to the menu.
Kate (12:46):
That I didn't even expect, and we have not even got to the
bakery yet.
Yeah, that's so true.
Oh my God, I just love food.
Doug, I could talk about it,and we all love it so much you
are with the right person rightnow.
That's true.
Doug (12:55):
Let's do it Okay.
So let's talk about the main.
I want to say bread items, yeah.
Kate (13:01):
Is that right?
Yeah, no, that's correct.
I would say okay.
I feel like we can break thingsdown into into three things
bread pastry yes, cake yeahpossibly you know like those are
kind of.
Doug (13:10):
I don't know if cake is its own category, but I think so
cake and pastry, so so thestuff that your partner is
making in terms of bread.
This is kind of where it allstarted what do you think are
some of the the top movers ormost popular breads that you
guys are are baking up?
Kate (13:24):
So um the sourdough English muffins are my best
seller.
Doug (13:27):
Oh yeah.
Kate (13:27):
Hands down, they just are.
Doug (13:29):
Um thank you.
Kate (13:31):
I feel like they are just special, they're different.
I don't even know like he'sbeen making them since
definitely 2021.
And I don't even really know,like, what inspired him to
especially make sourdough ones.
You know, but our sourdoughstarter, his name is Phil.
Well, you have to name him.
Yeah, of course you do.
(13:52):
He's our little guy, you know.
He does a lot for us.
Our sourdough starter is fiveyears old and, yeah, and he's
real strong.
He's very strong, like just insmell and flavor.
There's something about phil's alittle funky he's funky, yes,
and like I feel kind of weirdsaying that you know in the best
way, yeah, yeah, it's like agood cheese.
(14:14):
Well, exactly, yeah some peopleget it, but I don't want to be
like.
You know phil stinks, but Imean he does, it's supposed to,
it's fermented.
Doug (14:21):
You need to have that happen and it it aids in so much
flavor depth of flavordigestion when we get to that
exactly so.
Kate (14:29):
Um they're really special and different.
Um they're super tall yeah,they're fluffy experience.
Yeah, yeah, they're we let themprove for for quite a long time
, so that they are light andfluffy yeah yeah, I just I hear
nothing but great things.
People absolutely love them andthey are a labor of love.
They take definitely two fulldays start to finish.
So they are a labor of love andI I think that you can taste
(14:50):
that.
Doug (14:50):
Yeah.
Kate (14:51):
Yeah, so the sourdough English muffins definitely
bestseller.
That I think.
Second would be like our plainsourdough bread, people really
like it.
For you mentioned digestion.
I get a lot of customerstelling me that they're gluten
intolerant or have issues withstore-bought bread and they say
but I have no problem eatingsourdough.
I have no problem eating yoursourdough specifically.
(15:13):
Maybe others they might.
So that's really encouraging.
Doug (15:17):
I like that, and Dan loves that too.
It's a beautiful,rustic-looking loaf.
Kate (15:21):
Thank you.
Yeah, I say thank you like Ihad anything to do with that?
Doug (15:24):
You do rustic looking loaf , thank you, yeah, yeah, I say
thank you Like I had anything todo with that and you're selling
it, so you know, okay, yeah,yeah, um, I guess that then it
kind of depends, and so I wasgoing to ask do you then rotate
some flavors or different grainsor something in the bread?
Kate (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, so, uh, we have different breads themselves
.
Um, sometimes weeks we'll have.
We have like a cinnamon breadthat's a loaf, loaf shape, um,
and it's what we make our Frenchtoast with.
Yeah and um, it's, it's reallygreat.
And, uh, that has that's beenreally popular.
People really like that.
Um, then sometimes the Italianbread will fly off the shelves
one week.
Yeah, I don't really know, it'shard to make a pattern of it.
(16:03):
Okay, but we do rotatespecialty flavors.
Right now we've been rockingwith a jalapeno cheddar for a
long time.
Dagny (16:10):
Yeah, that sounds good.
Kate (16:11):
Yeah, and that's kind of, I think, just become a staple
because people really like it.
Doug (16:17):
Again, good with a spread or as a sandwich.
I think that could be great.
Kate (16:20):
Oh yeah, If you want to be like real extra and make a
crazy grilled cheese yeah.
Doug (16:24):
Yeah, I know.
A little question I have.
Does Phil sneak into all of thebreads or are there some
without Phil?
Right, there are.
Kate (16:32):
There's some without Phil.
Doug (16:33):
Yeah, like an Italian maybe, yeah.
Kate (16:35):
Yeah, that's going to be yeasted, because not everybody
likes the sourdough flavor.
It is distinct and if you'renot used to like a little tang,
a little funk, you might youknow, it just might some people
just don't like it.
Doug (16:48):
It may not be your vibe, and that's okay.
You've got other things.
There's other things, yeah.
Kate (16:51):
So we definitely do other yeasted breads too.
We do a multigrain sourdough.
It's very healthy, very goodfor you, and that's the thing.
We don't put anything weird inthe bread, it's just.
You know the four main thingsthat you need to make bread
flour, water, salt, yeast andthat's it.
Or you know, if you're doing asourdough, wild yeast from the
sourdough starter et cetera.
We're not putting anypreservatives, we're not putting
(17:13):
any enzymes or anything in thebread.
Now that's going to make it gobad faster.
Doug (17:18):
Yeah, bread doesn't hang out like we think the sliced in
the plastic in the grocery storedoes, like we think the sliced
in the plastic in the grocerystore does.
That is not natural.
Kate (17:25):
And I have not bought store bread in years.
So I honestly don't know whatit's like anymore.
I'm not doing it.
Yeah, I get a lot of customerssaying the same thing, like it's
maybe a little less expensivethan what we're charging and
it's, you know, no good.
Doug (17:42):
And it lasts for a month.
Yeah, it's weird.
Kate (17:45):
Yeah, so I think people are starting to see the benefits
of that and that like it's well, it's cool to buy something
with limited ingredients andthat you know the people who
made it and the people who madeit can tell you about the.
You know like you you be, youbuild trust with your, with the
people selling your food 100%.
Doug (18:04):
We've heard it again and again from other bakeries, from
pizza makers on the showEveryone is all about keep it
simple, keep it real with theingredients, and people
appreciate that.
And then you do, you developthose relationships, knowing
that I can come back and getthis good product again and
again.
Kate (18:20):
Yeah, exactly so.
That's really what we strivefor, and all the bread in our
shop is labeled.
You can see exactly what's init.
If you need more information,you can always ask one of us.
We usually have nutrition factsand things available too
Awesome.
Yeah, hi.
This is Kate Clemons from BrownBear Bread Company and you're
listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (18:40):
All right, now let's get into some of the other goodies.
Other goodies, so cakes andpastries.
I think I just saw some cookieson your feed as well.
Yeah, I'm sure you did.
You guys have everything interms of the bakery sweets side.
Yes, yeah, I think so.
Kate (18:56):
Yeah, we do, you know, pretty popular at our last spot,
um, but we do other flavors ofcinnamon rolls as well.
So instead of cinnamon, maybeit's berries as a filling, or
lemon, or something like that.
Doug (19:07):
Oh, I like that, just different.
I've not had these.
Kate (19:09):
Okay, yeah, they're kind of new.
They're like a new thing thatKaylee started doing a few
months ago and it's been goingwell.
Um, you know we'll do thingslike cupcakes, um little.
Uh, dan has actually startedmaking croissants by hand and,
my goodness, laminated dough,laminated dough and puff pastry
as well by hand.
(19:29):
Yeah, and I don't think peopleunderstand, like, what that
means.
Doug (19:34):
It's a lot of work.
Kate (19:35):
Yeah, go watch great British baking show.
Yeah, and just watch them tryto laminate dough.
Yeah, I mean it's great theyhave time, parameters, whatever,
but it's a very challenging,very laborious, beautiful thing,
yes, and he has just beenreally into learning more about
it and improving and he startedmaking like galettes and
danishes and you know littlethings like that.
(19:56):
So that's special and littlethings like that.
Dagny (19:57):
So that's, special.
Kate (19:58):
And I want people to understand and I know that when
they eat it they will understandhow special it is, but it's
just cool.
Doug (20:05):
Well, back to what you said, though, too, it's a labor
of love to get there and masterit, and it's nice that you have
this space that maybe it's sortof in an experimentation phase
and you're rotating some flavors, so it doesn't have to be your,
your everything, but it's niceto then tack on those new skills
and tack on those itemswhenever you guys feel like yeah
(20:25):
.
Kate (20:25):
And people are really liking it.
So, it's cool.
Um, we also do brownies.
I make brownies and um, I docookies as well.
That's, that's my gig.
So, um, I try to come up with,you know.
You know like five, five or sixdifferent types of of cookies
and brownies at one time.
Um, let's see cake truffles.
We do a lot of those oh coffeecake, muffins, coffee cakes
(20:48):
biscuits scones.
Doug (20:49):
Oh my gosh.
I know there's a lot.
It's all it's.
Kate (20:52):
It's the whole thing yeah, it's pretty much anything that
you could want.
You know, we, we wanted tocater the menu to um.
You could come in and spend $3on because you need a sweet
treat.
But you could come in and stockup on bread and spend $75, and
you know, and also get sweettreats if you really want it.
So we wanted to hit both endsof the spectrum.
Doug (21:12):
So that cause we've all been there at 3 PM when you're
like, oh, what is that the threeo'clock drop by here?
Yeah, I definitely need alittle sweetm.
When you're like, oh, I need abrownie, what is that the three
o'clock drop, I hear, yeah, Idefinitely need a little sweet
treat yeah.
Kate (21:20):
And sometimes I always say that to customers like hey,
it's sweet treat time, rightyeah.
And sometimes they're like yeah.
Doug (21:28):
Now you were saying that Kaylee also does.
Well, keep me honest Customcakes yeah.
Kate (21:40):
You can do cakes wedding or have you done a wedding?
Yeah, actually last year, wow,yes, she did a wedding, um, and
it was a pretty, pretty big one.
Yeah, and she's done.
She's done a lot, but Iremember that's like the the
first one that I remember beinga part of you guys doing yeah
yeah, so, um, we might be calledbrown bear bread company, but
we obviously do a lot more thanbread so.
So people are surprisedsometimes with um the fact that
we do offer custom cakes.
So I like to shout it from therooftops as much as I can um,
(22:00):
and if you look through our feed, you can see some of some of
the cakes that kaylee has done.
Basically, we don't use fondantshe does not use fondant.
Um, it's not that kind of.
I'm not a fan of fondant,nobody really is no.
So, uh, she makes amazingbuttercream like the best
buttercream ever.
So, um, we can do.
She can do pretty much anythingthat you want, from like kids'
(22:20):
birthdays to and smash cakes to,you know, like big, huge sheet
cakes if you need cupcakes, likereally, whatever your menu is
so much more vast than Irealized.
Doug (22:32):
Thank you, yes.
Kate (22:33):
And also, you know, it's so much more vast than what we
previously were able to dobecause we had to focus so much
on food, because that's kind oflike what happened and then we
just, you know, rode with it.
It's, it's nice to be able tobe like no, no, no, look at the
skills that we all actually dohave and let's focus on those
skills.
Yeah, sure, we make great foodand Dan and Kaylee are really
(22:53):
great at that, but it's not themajority of their day anymore.
They can really focus on thethings that they were trained to
do.
You know, Kaylie is actually atrained pastry chef and she does
have a degree from Johnson andWales.
So you know, like this is, thisis what she wants to do, and
Dan has some culinary training?
Yes, he does, and he went to,went to school for a little
while and then had been anexecutive chef for like, or some
(23:17):
kind of cook chef for I don'tknow, 15 years.
Doug (23:20):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, okay, kate, I want toshift gears then to you.
You're doing a lot of the frontof the house, but you did say
you're doing some of the baking.
Kate (23:27):
Yeah, I do some of the baking.
Doug (23:29):
Did you ever see yourself getting into this industry, or
is this where you started?
Kate (23:39):
It's not where I started, but yes, I absolutely could see
myself doing this and I'm really.
It's really like full circle.
How it happened, yeah.
So when I was in college inIthaca, new York, I went to
Ithaca college, not Cornell,everybody's always like oh,
cornell, no, there's another one.
So when I went to college Istarted working at this place
called Sarah's patisserie, andit was this beautiful little
(24:00):
patisserie.
There were two locations in townand I just was working the
counter because I have customerservice experience and I just
needed a part-time job that wasflexible.
I ended up falling in love withit.
Doug (24:12):
I was going to say is this where the bug maybe started?
Yes, for sure.
Kate (24:16):
Well, I mean, I baked as a kid like my grandma really
taught me how to how to do a lotof baking, a lot of Christmas
cookies, things like that.
Doug (24:23):
So how old were you when that started?
Kate (24:25):
Like seven or eight, probably, yeah, and I used to
bake cookies all the time upthrough high school honestly.
So it's something I like doing,but I didn't have the patience
to ever do it right, cause Ijust wanted to get it done so I
could eat it.
Yeah, yeah, it right Cause Ijust wanted to get it done so I
could eat it, yeah, yeah.
So, um, fast forward.
I'm in college, I'm workingthis job.
(24:46):
I end up falling in love withit because what my boss was
doing was just so beautiful andso passionate and she cared so
much about it.
I loved her.
I loved every part of it.
She would trust me eventuallyto start making like ganache and
, you know, whipped cream andfilling macarons and um, baking
the croissants and things likethat, and I really started to be
like this is so special.
Like this this level of baking,this level of bakery that we are
(25:09):
now kind of, I think, enteringum is is beautiful and it is
just such an expression of loveand I wish that people could see
that more.
I think that they do those thatget it get it, those that don't
need to come to Brown Bear andeat something.
Doug (25:26):
They need to slow down and take it in.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
I got two questions for you,Okay.
Number one is that patisseriestill open in Ithaca?
No, it's sadly not.
Kate (25:40):
I ended up leaving Ithaca for a while and went to grad
school and came back and duringthat time she ended up closing
and actually ended up passingaway, and so it feels even more.
I'm getting goosebumps talkingabout it.
You've got to carry the spiriton.
Kind of yeah, and I just Iloved this woman so much and she
was a real pain.
Let me tell you and I justloved her what was her name
Tammy.
(26:00):
Yeah, her name was Tammy and wehad a great time together and I
was her like right hand man andyeah.
So it's not open anymore andshe's no longer with us.
So it kind of feels even morespecial that now.
This is like the level ofattention I'm trying to bring to
our business as well.
Doug (26:15):
You are taking skills that you developed with her in this
current journey that you're on.
Kate (26:20):
Yeah, 100%, and she really cared about every detail being
perfect and I, I don't have thatand I want it, and so I strive
for it, but, um, you know, I did.
Do we do the best?
I do the best I can.
Doug (26:35):
All right, I'm going to get back to another question
that you sparked.
What were you going to collegefor?
Kate (26:40):
I was going to college for vocal performance.
Doug (26:43):
Okay, yes, I think I've heard this.
Kate (26:44):
Okay.
Doug (26:45):
Yes.
Kate (26:45):
I actually am a classically trained opera singer
.
Doug (26:49):
Oh wow so.
Kate (26:50):
I have two degrees in that .
I don't know Are you doing anysinging?
Now, yeah, I just kind ofstarted again I took some time
off because the industry is hardand oh yeah it's.
It's not even that, it's justhard.
It's unfair in many ways theopera industry.
Doug (27:08):
Yeah, I was thinking the baking for a second.
Kate (27:10):
I'm like oh, no, no, no, okay no, the opera industry is
just, you know, it's a lot about, it's elitist in a lot of ways.
Um and I don't want it to beand we, none of us want it to be
, but it is at the end of theday and, um, it just kind of
hurt my feelings.
Doug (27:25):
Oh yeah.
Kate (27:26):
That, that aspect of it, but what?
Doug (27:28):
are you doing now so?
Kate (27:29):
I am singing a little bit now, okay, um, I we're about to
go on break for the summer, but,um, I do sing at a church
downtown in Pittsburgh Okay,first Presbyterian church.
I sing with my friends in thechoir and, like, we lead the
choir and have solos and we havea great time.
We have a great time together.
It's very low stakes and it'swonderful.
Doug (27:47):
Use those pipes.
Kate (27:47):
Yeah, exactly yeah, and and everyone at church is always
so grateful, no matter whatevercomes out of your mouth, you
know like you.
You could think that you soundhorrible because you just drank
three glasses of wine last night, which unfortunately has
happened, and um.
But you know, someone will comeup and say that was really
beautiful, that spoke to me, sothat's nice.
(28:08):
And then, um, I recently sangwith um steel city cabaret.
They're like a little cabaretum project and they host events
and concerts throughout the citythroughout the year, I think
almost monthly.
So they have a pride one comingup.
But I sang in their opera night.
I think I saw this.
Doug (28:25):
Yeah, I posted a lot about it.
Kate (28:26):
Yeah, and it was like kind of a return to public opera
singing for me.
I hadn't done it in a reallylong time and it felt so good
and it hadn't for a long time.
Doug (28:40):
I love that for you.
Kate (28:41):
Thank you, you, you're gonna find your place yeah, and
but the relationship with youknow a person in music,
especially a singer, becauseit's so personal there's no
instrument in front of me tohide behind and there's no
instrument that is, you push abutton and it makes the sound.
I am the instrument and I amnot the same day to day and so
you know that was it's hard.
(29:02):
That's really really hard andreally really personal.
And so taking that time off,like I definitely needed it and
it feels good and for me again.
Doug (29:11):
I like that, so I want to do more into it.
Yeah, do it.
Kate (29:14):
Anybody out there want to put on a recital?
I don't know, hit me up.
Doug (29:18):
Well, since you're taking us there, I would love to ask
about anything coming up and,for the bakery, any big plans,
events or even just goals forthe rest of the year.
Kate (29:30):
Yeah, I would say so.
We have a partnership coming upwith Yelp Pittsburgh, yelp
Elite Pittsburgh.
The group of Yelp Elites arealways kind of going around to
different small businesses oreven just businesses in
Pittsburgh different restaurants, trying new things.
So look out for that.
There's going to be a lot ofmarketing about that and I'm
(29:50):
excited to have everybody.
It's an opportunity for peoplewho are used to city Pittsburgh
things.
For those that don't know, likeYelp elite is a invited group
of people that, uh, have writtenso many five-star reviews that
are detailed, lots of pictures,things like that.
Doug (30:09):
They're actually doing the work.
Yeah, yeah.
Kate (30:11):
They're the ones that you're like.
Oh, wow, that's a great reviewand that makes me want to go to
this place.
Um, so they get rewarded forthat with special things,
special offers, events andthings like that.
So we are happy to be hostingthe elites June 12th through the
19th.
Oh, so this is coming up.
Yeah, so they have like alittle.
You know, they'll come in andsee the bakery and they get a
little something for for being aYelp elite member, so I'm
(30:31):
looking forward to that.
There's always lots of eventshappening in new Brighton it is
like the smallest, most busytown.
It's amazing.
They're always doing something.
That's great, it's really great.
And like I saw a Tik TOKrecently you know talking about
how people glorify living incities and and things like that
but it was like small townsmatter.
(30:52):
This community does matter andmaking a difference, even if
it's in a small town, is stillmaking a difference.
Doug (30:58):
Yeah, but even your move there, business is good.
Business is good.
You moved out of sort of bigcity area to a little less dense
population but it's still agreat place to be for business.
Kate (31:09):
Absolutely.
I really think so, and I thinkthat there's more stuff coming
in Beaver County.
People want it.
It seems to be more youngpeople moving in and starting
and having small businesses andit's really nice to be, you know
, I don't want to say leadingthe charge, but it's really nice
to be there and say, hey, comeon over, it's cool, be part of
(31:29):
this, be part of this.
There's people out here thatwant this, that might not have
this opportunity, you know.
So it's it's, it's cool and it'sreally nice to make a
difference it is the amount ofpeople like little cute old
ladies that come in and to thankme for being open yes is.
Doug (31:47):
I could just cry like it's so cool well, at the end of the
day, Kate, people love a bakery, oh for sure.
So, yes, thank you for allyou're doing.
Thank you anything else interms of events, anything else
coming?
Kate (31:58):
um, we are in the.
We are at the beaver farmer'sMarket every Saturday, probably
through September.
All right, that's from 10 to 1.
And then we will be at theCarnegie Farmer's Market as well
, because we got to representour Carnegie peeps.
I like that a lot, and that'sJuly through September.
Doug (32:13):
So that's on.
Kate (32:14):
Sundays.
So yeah, come out and see us.
Doug (32:16):
Wonderful Kate.
I'm going to ask you a questionI think I know the answer to,
but I want other folks to knowhow did you come up with the
name Brown Bear Bread?
Kate (32:26):
Okay, so Dan and I have been together for six years this
year and we have a dog who camewith me from a previous life
and his name is Luke and he'seight years old and he's a
perfect baby angel.
Doug (32:40):
Of course he is Of course he is.
Kate (32:41):
Yes, and his nickname is Brown Bear.
He just sometimes looks like alittle like a little bear.
He's 80 pounds guys.
He's not little, I don't know,but you know how dogs have a
zillion nicknames.
So Brown Bear happened.
And then we were joking like,oh, wouldn't Brown Bear bread be
fun someday?
Like Brown bear bread?
Ha ha ha.
And then I had a friend drop thelogo with Luke's ears as the
(33:03):
outline and and it just kind ofall made sense and in my mind I
thought it was funny to have alabel, a logo, with dog ears but
be called brown bear.
People are like what the heck?
Doug (33:14):
It's kind of a good marketing thing, cause people do
give that second look and like,huh, they do.
Kate (33:19):
They ask about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's named after oursweet boy and he's my soulmate
dog, like he's obsessed with me.
Yeah, and I'm obsessed with him, so it's fine.
Doug (33:30):
That is the best name ever .
Thanks, all right, Kate.
Why don't we take a moment togive folks your website or any
of your social handles so theycan follow you, if they haven't
discovered you yet?
Kate (33:43):
Okay, so I love to do most of my posting on Instagram,
which is linked to Facebook.
So on Instagram we're atbrownbearbreadco I think that
there's a period between eachword and then on Facebook, same
thing.
Just you know, searchbrownbearbread and we will come
up.
You'll see the logo with thedog ears and that's us, and then
our website is brownbearbreadco.
(34:04):
On the website you can actuallydo a bunch of ordering.
You can order bread, pastries,lots of things, just like your
online shopping.
Yeah, you can also do customcake inquiries there as well.
So check out the website if youhaven't.
Kaylie and I worked really hardon it cake inquiries there as
well.
So check out the website If youhaven't.
Kaylee and I worked really hardon it.
Doug (34:20):
So look at it.
Let's just remind folks yourlike current hours and location.
Kate (34:24):
Sure, so our location is 400 ninth street, suite C
technically, uh, new Brightonand basically we are next to the
state store, and so we're inbetween a pizza shop and a state
store.
Doug (34:37):
Okay, you can't miss it.
Kate (34:39):
Um, and our current hours Monday Tuesdays we're open 10 to
four.
Wednesday we're closed.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10to six.
Sunday 10 to two.
All right, it's a lot.
Yeah, Check the website.
Yeah, Check, yeah, exactly, Ireally try to update Instagram
daily.
Yeah, I'm always posting, Checkus out.
Doug (34:57):
I love it.
Thanks, all right, Kate.
I always have one more questionfor our guests.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh dish.
What's the best dish you've hadto eat this past week?
Kate (35:09):
Okay, I went to this restaurant in Aspin wall called
Cornerstone.
Oh, yes, have you been it hasbeen a few moons since I have
been to cornerstone very randomchoice, um, but it was a
recommendation, and by my bestfriend, Tori, who also loves the
show.
Hey, Tori and um and I had aroasted chicken oh that was
(35:34):
amazing.
I love a properly roastedchicken, you know, like with the
crispy skin, but the juicy meatand it's like kind of hard to
achieve and it's hard to achieve, like exactly the right
temperature and everything, andit was absolute perfection.
I think it had either a creamypolenta or some kind of potato
(35:54):
situation underneath andbroccolini.
Doug (35:57):
And.
Kate (35:58):
I love broccolini.
Doug (35:59):
Oh my.
Kate (35:59):
God, it was so good.
It blew me away because thiswas just such a a random, you
know choice.
Oh, I've never been here long.
Whatever, let's just go.
And oh my God, it was amazing.
Doug (36:09):
I need to get back.
I actually I don't think I'vevisited it in like three years,
yeah, so I'm so glad to hearit's still maintaining great
quality.
Yeah.
Kate (36:19):
It was awesome, yeah, yeah .
Doug (36:21):
Kate Clemons yes, it's been such a pleasure to talk
with you.
Thank you so much for takingsome time and for being on the
Pittsburgh dish.
Kate (36:27):
Thank you so much for having me Doug.
I love dishing about food and Ijust am so glad to be doing
this life.
Doug (36:35):
Oh, thank you so much Thanks.
Up.
Next we stay in the BeaverCounty area and learn about
another great spot from ourfriend, Ashley Cesaratto.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with Ashley Cesaratto of
Eating with Ashley on Instagram.
Ashley, it's been a while.
How have you been?
Ashley (36:53):
I've been really good.
Thanks for having me back.
Doug (36:55):
Yeah, I have seen your feed and you have been going out
to eat to some really coolplaces.
I thought we should talk abouta couple.
Ashley (37:02):
Yeah, for sure.
I've been going out to eat aton, trying some new places and
some places that I know Ialready love, so happy to talk
about everything.
Doug (37:12):
I have noticed geographically, you've stopped
in a couple places that are alittle outside of Pittsburgh.
Has there been a spot thatyou've visited recently that you
think is definitely worth thedrive?
Ashley (37:23):
For sure, Biba in Beaver .
Doug (37:26):
Oh, you know what?
I think I've heard of thisbefore from our friend, Raquel
Holiday, because she lived inBeaver.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, so I think we talkedabout it on her interview last
year.
So you just went there fordinner.
Ashley (37:37):
Yeah, I went a few weeks ago with my husband and our
friends Mike and Liz.
We actually met through myFacebook group and they used to
own Carson Street Deli and CraftBeer.
Doug (37:46):
Oh, that's awesome and we should remind listeners you also
do manage the very popularFacebook group Pittsburgh
Foodies.
Ashley (37:54):
Yeah, we have 86,000 members now.
Doug (37:58):
That is amazing.
Ashley (37:59):
Congratulations.
Thanks, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Doug (38:01):
All right, let's get back to Biba.
So you guys went there fordinner.
Tell us a little bit about thebites, the things that you all
had.
Ashley (38:08):
Sure.
So we started off with focacciabecause our friend Mike said we
had to have it and they serveit with a whipped ricotta and
like a hot honey spread type ofthing.
So put those two thingstogether and it was just the
perfect bite.
Doug (38:22):
Delicious.
Ashley (38:30):
We also had their loaded fries, and you know, when I go
out to eat I always over order.
We always have tons ofleftovers.
But I figured, okay, there'sfour of us, we'll order these
fries.
It was enough to probably feedeight people as an appetizer.
Doug (38:40):
Wait, wait, wait.
Just this order of fries.
Yes, and so was this likeregular French fries, or were
they loaded topped with things?
Ashley (38:47):
So they were topped with a couple different types of
sauces and some cheese and freshjalapenos.
I let Kurt have the freshjalapenos, and the fries
themselves were so well cooked.
They were super crispy andbrown on the outside but soft
and fluffy on the inside, and Ihad to stop myself from eating
(39:07):
too many because I had to saveroom for dinner.
Doug (39:09):
Yeah, it's actually probably hard to do when you're
doing like this huge amount offries.
So kudos to Biba for gettingthe fries right.
Ashley (39:17):
Oh for sure, yeah, and they got the steak right too.
So I don't really order steakout a lot anymore because I like
cooking it at home and it's somuch cheaper at home too.
But I was just feeling a steakthat night and they cooked it
perfectly, and when the servertook our order she actually
didn't even ask how I wanted itcooked.
So they just do it medium rareand do it perfectly, and it was
(39:42):
served with these potatoes andbutter sauce and some
chimichurri and it was thatperfect combination of richness
from the butter and thebrightness from the chimichurri
Just incredible.
Doug (39:53):
I love that combination with that little chimichurri to
brighten everything up.
All right, what else wasnotable?
Ashley (39:59):
Well, my neighbor and I were talking recently and she
loves mushrooms.
She is crazy about them and Iwas thinking what thing, what
food item am I crazy about?
And it's beets.
So anytime I see beets on themenu, which is usually in the
form of a salad, I have to orderthem.
Yes, so we got a beet salad andit was just loaded with beets
(40:21):
and again some cheese On themenu.
It was gorgonzola cheese withthe salad, but I asked if I
could have goat cheese instead,because I just prefer that
combination, and it wasincredible.
It was tangy and a little bitsweet, and they use local
lettuces.
Just perfect, I love that.
(40:46):
We got a few other things too,like pasta and fish, and
everything was incredible.
I mean no notes, no critiques,Now, did you get any dessert?
We did, we got a trace letchase strawberry cake and it was
like the one of the top threedesserts I've ever had.
Doug (41:04):
That is saying something.
Ashley (41:06):
Yeah, it was incredible, and I'm a pretty tough critic
when it comes to dessertsbecause I bake a lot.
Doug (41:12):
Yeah.
Ashley (41:13):
And this was just fantastic.
I mean it wasn't too sweet,which I, you know.
It's like people kind of jokearound that you know you're old
when you say that you like adessert because it's not too
sweet.
Yeah, I'm getting there.
Doug (41:28):
That's me.
Ashley (41:29):
Right, but it really it wasn't too sweet.
It was so well balanced and yougot like the milky creaminess
from the condensed milk and thefresh strawberries and whipped
cream and it was perfect.
We actually had to get an orderto go because we loved it so
much, oh wow.
And then on our way home, wewere talking about our neighbor
(41:50):
who she's just finishing upchemo, and we're like you know
what my husband was like?
Well, why don't we give this toher?
So we dropped it off at herhouse and chatted about our
dinner.
Doug (42:02):
Oh my gosh, don't we give this to her?
Ashley (42:03):
so we dropped it off at her house and and uh, chatted
about our dinner.
Yeah, giving it, sharing itwith somebody, was better than
being a little bit gluttonousand having a second serving to
ourselves that is the best story.
Doug (42:12):
What a great neighbor you guys are.
Thank you so much, ashley.
And so we are talking aboutbiba in beaver.
I think it's on third street.
Yeah, it's right on the maindrag.
That's right.
Thanks again, ashley.
Thanks, you can follow Ashleyon Instagram at
eatingwithashleypgh If you'relooking to level up your summer
(42:34):
burger game on the home grilland you want to make sure to
take your sides to the nextlevel as well.
We get an ingredient tip fromour friend Dagny Como of Dagny's
Eatery.
Let's have a listen.
Dagny (42:46):
I will say on a whole different note.
I don't know if it's I won'tsay the best, but really good.
I just made fries last nightand beef tallow.
It's my first time.
Doug (42:54):
Okay.
Dagny (42:54):
And I will say that I get it now it's good.
So like I, and I made like afew.
So there me I was, like Isoaked some in water, then some
I didn't, then some of likeparmesan, rosemary, some just
had salt so like I'mexperimenting, I'm giving them.
Well, I want to do this at eightthis weekend, so I'm giving my
daughter, like, try this platewhen I'll try this plate, do you
like them?
(43:15):
Is one crunchier.
Oh, I love it, but um, I'venever cooked with that, so it
was kind of like somethingdifferent.
But really good I guess, that'swhat.
Mcdonald's used to do back inthe day.
Doug (43:22):
That's what I heard back in the day.
And now high-end restaurants doit now.
Dagny (43:26):
Yeah, and I get it, so it was kind of cool to do that.
Doug (43:29):
Beef tallow french fries.
Dagny (43:31):
Yeah, Dagny, thank you so much for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish yeah.
Doug (43:44):
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us.
Just visit our website atwwwpittsburghdishcom and look
for our share a recipe form.
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
(44:06):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
How did a location move help toredefine one bakery's vision?
We get the story from KateClemons of Brown Bear Bread
Company.
Ashley Cesaratto shares notonly a great dining spot but
also a lesson on how to be agood neighbor.
(00:23):
And how do you level up thego-to side for burgers on the
grill.
Dagny Como shares a cooking tipfor some great french fries at
home.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
The Pittsburgh Dish issupported by Chef Alekka LLC For
(00:44):
cooking classes, parties orcatering.
Just visit her website atchefalekkacom to explore menus
and book a date.
Now on to the show.
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Kate (00:59):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
Doug (01:01):
Would you introduce yourself to our listeners and
what you have going on right nowin the world of food?
Kate (01:09):
Oh my gosh.
Hi everybody.
My name is Kate Clemons.
I am part owner of Brown BearBread Company.
We are a bakery slash cafe outin New Brighton in Beaver County
.
There's big things happeningout there in Beaver County so we
are happy to be a part of that.
Um, and then what am I doingright now in food?
That's what you want to know.
(01:29):
Yeah, so, uh, basically my roleat the company is um front of
house stuff I do the peoplestuff yeah um, I do the social
media, I do some baking, um, butmostly I'm interacting with
customers, clients, wholesaleclients, things like that.
Um, I'm the one that they'regoing to email to talk about
their orders, all of that jazz.
So I'm living a lot in thesocial media world, trying to,
(01:51):
you know, push Brown Bear evenfarther that way because I like
doing it and it's, it'sinteresting.
Yeah, just trying to get outthere and like get as much out
of the free marketing that youcan, I completely understand.
Yeah, yeah, like I don't know,it goes pretty well, and so I'm
just trying to utilize that asmuch as possible.
(02:12):
Um, so that's kind of what I'vebeen thinking about a lot
lately.
Doug (02:15):
All right, yeah, now tell me a little bit about the back
of the house, like who's doingsome of the baking right now.
Kate (02:21):
Sure.
So, um, my partner, dan DanGalusha, he is our bread baker,
Um, he, and Kaylie Carini is ourum pastry chef owner and she
also does bread baking as well.
We all, we all kind of share alittle bit of responsibility.
I'm sure you have to yeah, weliterally have to, because, um,
we are a very small business andthere's only three of us that
(02:43):
basically run everything.
So there's kind of round theclock baking going on.
Yeah, yeah, as much as we can.
My partner, Dan, and I justmoved to Beaver, actually to be
closer to the bakery, and it'sreally nice.
I'm very excited.
Doug (02:59):
Yes, reduce that commute.
Kate (03:01):
Yes, let's reduce that commute and I feel like we're
able to like we're going to beable to get a lot more done and
I'm really looking forward tothat.
Doug (03:09):
Now I want to just do a little bit of history about the
company.
Yeah, you guys startedsomewhere around Carnegie in
like a church basement, was thatright?
Dagny (03:17):
Yeah.
Doug (03:18):
Yeah, so what year was that?
Kate (03:19):
Okay, I was thinking back.
I Okay, I was thinking back, Ibelieve, 2021.
Okay, yeah, so Dan and I movedhere.
We're from New York, we're fromupstate New York and we moved
here in 2020 and April 2020.
Doug (03:31):
Oh boy, it was wild yeah.
Kate (03:33):
There was nobody on the road.
No, you probably had a reallyfalse sense of, wow, the
commuting here will be great.
I really did Doug like for realA couple months, you, you know,
like after vaccines came outand things, all of a sudden.
I remember driving and beinglike what, where did they?
Doug (03:47):
come from where?
Kate (03:49):
where are these people coming from?
Doug (03:51):
you're like I've never had a problem with these tunnels,
ever, oh and then I learned yeah, yeah, well anyway.
Kate (03:56):
So um, dan and I met and he was an executive chef, oh,
and um had been for many, manyyears and kind of slowly started
transitioning into baking.
Ashley (04:06):
Um.
Kate (04:06):
I think it just kind of started to like make sense to
him and when he gets an idea hegets like obsessed with an idea.
And he so he really did andbought so many books and really
started teaching himself.
And, uh, we decided to juststart baking out of our house
for a while just for like familyfriends, you know nothing,
crazy.
And then people were like hey,this is good.
(04:28):
There's some really good stuffhere.
Doug (04:30):
Okay.
Kate (04:30):
So then, uh, there was a church in Carnegie and they
actually closed, but, um, while,uh, we, we were renting out the
basement kitchen, I don't knowtwo days a week, maybe, just
baking like as much as we could,and tiny little ovens in in
Dutch ovens, like it's so funnyto see how far we've come from
the evolution of it all right.
Yeah, yeah, Like I think backto when we were in the church
(04:52):
basement baking.
Dan would go in and he wouldbake every single loaf in a
Dutch oven.
Dagny (04:58):
a cast iron Dutch oven yeah.
Kate (04:59):
In like a regular home oven that was in a church
basement and it took forever.
Like if we had an order of like20 loaves it would take so long
.
Doug (05:10):
I can't.
Imagine.
Kate (05:12):
Yeah, we just kind of did that for like a year, um wild.
And then we met Kaylie Cariniand, um, she is a a very
established pastry chef, reallyfocused on like cake design and
cake decorating, custom cakes,and she's fabulous at it.
I feel like our cake businessis really starting to pick up
these days.
So if you didn't know now youknow everyone that brown bear
(05:33):
does custom cakes.
So come to us with any of yourcrazy ideas and we'll try to
make it happen.
Doug (05:39):
I definitely want to get to the menu, because there is
actually so much more on therethan just a bakery.
Kate (05:45):
Yeah, I would say so.
Doug (05:46):
Yeah, I think your last post.
I just saw chicken salad andsome other stuff.
Kate (05:50):
So I'm like wait, just posted that, yeah, so you know.
Okay, I know you wanted to getinto like the history.
I'm sorry I could.
Doug (05:57):
I could go off track and talk it's all good, it's all
good, I'm taking us off track.
Kate (06:01):
Okay, no, I'm a yapper.
Doug (06:02):
Well, let's keep following this path.
Kate (06:05):
So from Carnegie.
Doug (06:06):
I know at some point you moved up to Mount Oliver.
Kate (06:08):
Yes, we did in 2023.
We basically hit the groundrunning as like a full service
cafe.
Yes, and that's kind of whatthe space called for.
Doug (06:19):
That's how you and I first met.
Kate (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, you came to the shop, yeah, all of a sudden
exploded.
Doug (06:25):
Yes.
Kate (06:25):
Fall of 2023.
We were nowhere near ready andit was absolutely wild.
It was amazing and challengingand unsustainable and there were
many reasons that it wasunsustainable and I don't you
know like I won't go into likewhat was really.
Doug (06:43):
There's a lot of behind the scenes, yeah.
Kate (06:55):
Um, but basically, um, it came down to, you know, building
issues that were neveraddressed and that we, um, just
as a business couldn't deal with, as a food business couldn't,
couldn't deal with, and we endedup, you know, seeing this space
in New Brighton and people arepeople really thought we were
insane, like for real.
Doug (07:03):
To move out to New Brighton To move to New Brighton
.
Kate (07:05):
Yeah, so well, in 2023,.
During that year in MountOliver, it was crazy.
We had a great time.
We learned so much.
My business partner, kaylee, waspregnant.
She gave birth last year, lastsummer, all of these things just
happening all at the same time.
I look back on it and I'm likeI don't.
(07:30):
I hardly remember any of that,cause it was so stressful.
How did we do it?
How do we?
I have no idea.
So, um, it was a great time, itwas a beautiful space.
I I am thankful for everyonethat I met because of us being
there, but I think that at theend of the day, it also just
didn't really align with what we, like, really wanted to be
doing.
Doug (07:43):
Yeah, you were still in an almost a rapid experimentation
kind of moment, right.
Kate (07:49):
Yeah, and we're.
I mean literally flying by theseat of our pants, like you know
we we really dove in headfirst.
We all quit whatever we weredoing and just went in to do
this thing and I'm so glad thatwe did.
But it was awful and reallyhard for a long time.
Doug (08:06):
Sometimes you have to do it to know what you don't want
to do.
Yeah, 100%.
Kate (08:09):
I wish my parents could hear that hey, mom, you
listening.
Doug (08:17):
So when did you then make that leap to New Brighton?
Kate (08:20):
Yeah, so we knew that we wanted to move and we were
thinking about all of thesedifferent places.
Um, kaylee and her husband livein New Brighton and they have
for many years and they're likewe really like it here.
It's very cute, you know.
And, um, her husband wastalking to the owner of the
grocery store there in NewBrighton food land and talking
about the business and lookingfor a new space, whatever.
(08:41):
And he's like, oh hey, comecheck this out, I got a space.
Okay, looking for a new spacewhatever.
And he's like oh, hey, comecheck this out, I got a space,
okay.
So he goes and looks at it,sends us some pictures and is
like guys, I think you shouldcheck this out.
So at first I was like no, thisis crazy, this is insane, oh my
God.
And then we all took a fieldtrip and we all looked at the
space and everybody Dan andKaylie were like this is what we
need.
Dagny (09:01):
Like this is perfect.
Kate (09:02):
It was the first space that we looked at, the only
space that we looked at, and itjust felt right and the the
price was right.
I mean it just, it just madeperfect sense we are aligning
yeah.
Yeah, and you know we wanted togo back to being a bakery that
sometimes serves food, becausewe all not to like toot our own
(09:22):
horn or anything, but we makereally good food.
Doug (09:26):
I will not disagree, thank you.
Kate (09:28):
I really appreciate that.
Um, Dan and Kaylie are bothreally just.
They just know what to do inthe kitchen as far as like
putting flavors together, andthey really care about making
things from scratch.
Like not, we don't really buyanything Sausage.
Like we make as much as wepossibly can, even our sausage
these days we're making Really.
Yeah, dan was like I can justmake this.
Doug (09:49):
Let's take our listeners to your shop right now.
Sure If they were to visit andthey haven't visited before.
As you just said, you are abakery most days, but what are
we experiencing when we go toBrown Bear?
Kate (10:03):
Sure.
So let's say it's like aSaturday.
Doug (10:06):
Let's go on a Saturday, yeah.
Kate (10:08):
We do serve food on the weekends only Okay, because
during the week we are doing alot of production for wholesale
accounts.
So when you walk in on aSaturday, you're going to see a
brunch menu or takeout menurather.
Doug (10:19):
All right.
Kate (10:23):
And you're going to see a couple different options,
usually only four or five, andit will be two staple items and
then three or two or threethings that rotate depending on
what we want to make.
Doug (10:30):
Is it like breakfast sandwiches or like a breakfast
pizza or stuff like that?
Kate (10:34):
Yeah, yeah.
So we always have a breakfastsandwich on the menu, if you
have been to our previousiteration.
I have and I did the famousbrown bear breakfast sandwich is
still on the menu.
It's a sourdough English muffin, homemade breakfast sausage,
fried egg, cheddar and a fancysauce that we make.
Doug (10:52):
And I'm going to just dot in here.
We'll get to the breads in asecond.
But I will say my mom and dadare now obsessed with the
sourdough English muffins andhappily I can usually find them
at Dagny's because it's reallyclose to my house.
Kate (11:05):
Yes, excellent, that's good news.
Doug (11:07):
Breakfast sandwich is delicious.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Kate (11:10):
Yeah, hot food on weekends , but we try to have some kind
of grab and go option in ourrefrigerated case for the rest
of the week.
Doug (11:17):
Yes, yeah.
Kate (11:18):
Like when we're open through the rest of the week.
You know, we we try to havethings like hummus and chicken
salad, because what goes betterwith bread?
Than spreads and dips andbutters that we make, and then
lately we've been trying to domore grab-and-go lunchy foods
throughout the week in therefrigerator case.
Doug (11:37):
Because you do have foot traffic up there, right yeah?
Kate (11:39):
Well, we're right next to the state store.
Oh, there you go.
And you know Beaver's a drytown, not county, so you got to
go elsewhere to go to the statestore.
Oh, there you go.
Doug (11:45):
And you know, beavers are dry town, not County.
So you got to go elsewhere togo to the state store
Interesting Right, maybe reallygood positioning.
Kate (11:51):
I know, yeah, yeah, I mean I can't.
It's it's a very busy statestore.
So, um, yeah, we try to have,you know, just like some things.
If, oh man, I'm hungry, I needsomething to eat, I don't want
to go to the grocery store, Idon't want to go to the
drive-thru, like, let's see what, what Brown Bear has, yeah,
we're always trying to keepthose sorts of things in mind,
like last week.
Um, we made some burnt endswith some leftover pork from
(12:15):
making sausage, and thencoleslaw and cornbread in a
little thing.
Wonderful, yeah, you just grabthat and you take it home and
heat it up if you want to eat it.
It's yeah.
So we're just trying to dostuff that we would want to eat
honestly.
Also.
Then my business partner,kaylee's husband, sometimes
comes in and helps us cook andcome up with things, and he made
(12:36):
a meatball meal like meatballsand garlic bread that's in the
fridge right now.
Doug (12:39):
Oh my, and you're adding all of these things to the menu.
Kate (12:46):
That I didn't even expect, and we have not even got to the
bakery yet.
Yeah, that's so true.
Oh my God, I just love food.
Doug, I could talk about it,and we all love it so much you
are with the right person rightnow.
That's true.
Doug (12:55):
Let's do it Okay.
So let's talk about the main.
I want to say bread items, yeah.
Kate (13:01):
Is that right?
Yeah, no, that's correct.
I would say okay.
I feel like we can break thingsdown into into three things
bread pastry yes, cake yeahpossibly you know like those are
kind of.
Doug (13:10):
I don't know if cake is its own category, but I think so
cake and pastry, so so thestuff that your partner is
making in terms of bread.
This is kind of where it allstarted what do you think are
some of the the top movers ormost popular breads that you
guys are are baking up?
Kate (13:24):
So um the sourdough English muffins are my best
seller.
Doug (13:27):
Oh yeah.
Kate (13:27):
Hands down, they just are.
Doug (13:29):
Um thank you.
Kate (13:31):
I feel like they are just special, they're different.
I don't even know like he'sbeen making them since
definitely 2021.
And I don't even really know,like, what inspired him to
especially make sourdough ones.
You know, but our sourdoughstarter, his name is Phil.
Well, you have to name him.
Yeah, of course you do.
(13:52):
He's our little guy, you know.
He does a lot for us.
Our sourdough starter is fiveyears old and, yeah, and he's
real strong.
He's very strong, like just insmell and flavor.
There's something about phil's alittle funky he's funky, yes,
and like I feel kind of weirdsaying that you know in the best
way, yeah, yeah, it's like agood cheese.
(14:14):
Well, exactly, yeah some peopleget it, but I don't want to be
like.
You know phil stinks, but Imean he does, it's supposed to,
it's fermented.
Doug (14:21):
You need to have that happen and it it aids in so much
flavor depth of flavordigestion when we get to that
exactly so.
Kate (14:29):
Um they're really special and different.
Um they're super tall yeah,they're fluffy experience.
Yeah, yeah, they're we let themprove for for quite a long time
, so that they are light andfluffy yeah yeah, I just I hear
nothing but great things.
People absolutely love them andthey are a labor of love.
They take definitely two fulldays start to finish.
So they are a labor of love andI I think that you can taste
(14:50):
that.
Doug (14:50):
Yeah.
Kate (14:51):
Yeah, so the sourdough English muffins definitely
bestseller.
That I think.
Second would be like our plainsourdough bread, people really
like it.
For you mentioned digestion.
I get a lot of customerstelling me that they're gluten
intolerant or have issues withstore-bought bread and they say
but I have no problem eatingsourdough.
I have no problem eating yoursourdough specifically.
(15:13):
Maybe others they might.
So that's really encouraging.
Doug (15:17):
I like that, and Dan loves that too.
It's a beautiful,rustic-looking loaf.
Kate (15:21):
Thank you.
Yeah, I say thank you like Ihad anything to do with that?
Doug (15:24):
You do rustic looking loaf , thank you, yeah, yeah, I say
thank you Like I had anything todo with that and you're selling
it, so you know, okay, yeah,yeah, um, I guess that then it
kind of depends, and so I wasgoing to ask do you then rotate
some flavors or different grainsor something in the bread?
Kate (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, so, uh, we have different breads themselves
.
Um, sometimes weeks we'll have.
We have like a cinnamon breadthat's a loaf, loaf shape, um,
and it's what we make our Frenchtoast with.
Yeah and um, it's, it's reallygreat.
And, uh, that has that's beenreally popular.
People really like that.
Um, then sometimes the Italianbread will fly off the shelves
one week.
Yeah, I don't really know, it'shard to make a pattern of it.
(16:03):
Okay, but we do rotatespecialty flavors.
Right now we've been rockingwith a jalapeno cheddar for a
long time.
Dagny (16:10):
Yeah, that sounds good.
Kate (16:11):
Yeah, and that's kind of, I think, just become a staple
because people really like it.
Doug (16:17):
Again, good with a spread or as a sandwich.
I think that could be great.
Kate (16:20):
Oh yeah, If you want to be like real extra and make a
crazy grilled cheese yeah.
Doug (16:24):
Yeah, I know.
A little question I have.
Does Phil sneak into all of thebreads or are there some
without Phil?
Right, there are.
Kate (16:32):
There's some without Phil.
Doug (16:33):
Yeah, like an Italian maybe, yeah.
Kate (16:35):
Yeah, that's going to be yeasted, because not everybody
likes the sourdough flavor.
It is distinct and if you'renot used to like a little tang,
a little funk, you might youknow, it just might some people
just don't like it.
Doug (16:48):
It may not be your vibe, and that's okay.
You've got other things.
There's other things, yeah.
Kate (16:51):
So we definitely do other yeasted breads too.
We do a multigrain sourdough.
It's very healthy, very goodfor you, and that's the thing.
We don't put anything weird inthe bread, it's just.
You know the four main thingsthat you need to make bread
flour, water, salt, yeast andthat's it.
Or you know, if you're doing asourdough, wild yeast from the
sourdough starter et cetera.
We're not putting anypreservatives, we're not putting
(17:13):
any enzymes or anything in thebread.
Now that's going to make it gobad faster.
Doug (17:18):
Yeah, bread doesn't hang out like we think the sliced in
the plastic in the grocery storedoes, like we think the sliced
in the plastic in the grocerystore does.
That is not natural.
Kate (17:25):
And I have not bought store bread in years.
So I honestly don't know whatit's like anymore.
I'm not doing it.
Yeah, I get a lot of customerssaying the same thing, like it's
maybe a little less expensivethan what we're charging and
it's, you know, no good.
Doug (17:42):
And it lasts for a month.
Yeah, it's weird.
Kate (17:45):
Yeah, so I think people are starting to see the benefits
of that and that like it's well, it's cool to buy something
with limited ingredients andthat you know the people who
made it and the people who madeit can tell you about the.
You know like you you be, youbuild trust with your, with the
people selling your food 100%.
Doug (18:04):
We've heard it again and again from other bakeries, from
pizza makers on the showEveryone is all about keep it
simple, keep it real with theingredients, and people
appreciate that.
And then you do, you developthose relationships, knowing
that I can come back and getthis good product again and
again.
Kate (18:20):
Yeah, exactly so.
That's really what we strivefor, and all the bread in our
shop is labeled.
You can see exactly what's init.
If you need more information,you can always ask one of us.
We usually have nutrition factsand things available too
Awesome.
Yeah, hi.
This is Kate Clemons from BrownBear Bread Company and you're
listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (18:40):
All right, now let's get into some of the other goodies.
Other goodies, so cakes andpastries.
I think I just saw some cookieson your feed as well.
Yeah, I'm sure you did.
You guys have everything interms of the bakery sweets side.
Yes, yeah, I think so.
Kate (18:56):
Yeah, we do, you know, pretty popular at our last spot,
um, but we do other flavors ofcinnamon rolls as well.
So instead of cinnamon, maybeit's berries as a filling, or
lemon, or something like that.
Doug (19:07):
Oh, I like that, just different.
I've not had these.
Kate (19:09):
Okay, yeah, they're kind of new.
They're like a new thing thatKaylee started doing a few
months ago and it's been goingwell.
Um, you know we'll do thingslike cupcakes, um little.
Uh, dan has actually startedmaking croissants by hand and,
my goodness, laminated dough,laminated dough and puff pastry
as well by hand.
(19:29):
Yeah, and I don't think peopleunderstand, like, what that
means.
Doug (19:34):
It's a lot of work.
Kate (19:35):
Yeah, go watch great British baking show.
Yeah, and just watch them tryto laminate dough.
Yeah, I mean it's great theyhave time, parameters, whatever,
but it's a very challenging,very laborious, beautiful thing,
yes, and he has just beenreally into learning more about
it and improving and he startedmaking like galettes and
danishes and you know littlethings like that.
(19:56):
So that's special and littlethings like that.
Dagny (19:57):
So that's, special.
Kate (19:58):
And I want people to understand and I know that when
they eat it they will understandhow special it is, but it's
just cool.
Doug (20:05):
Well, back to what you said, though, too, it's a labor
of love to get there and masterit, and it's nice that you have
this space that maybe it's sortof in an experimentation phase
and you're rotating some flavors, so it doesn't have to be your,
your everything, but it's niceto then tack on those new skills
and tack on those itemswhenever you guys feel like yeah
(20:25):
.
Kate (20:25):
And people are really liking it.
So, it's cool.
Um, we also do brownies.
I make brownies and um, I docookies as well.
That's, that's my gig.
So, um, I try to come up with,you know.
You know like five, five or sixdifferent types of of cookies
and brownies at one time.
Um, let's see cake truffles.
We do a lot of those oh coffeecake, muffins, coffee cakes
(20:48):
biscuits scones.
Doug (20:49):
Oh my gosh.
I know there's a lot.
It's all it's.
Kate (20:52):
It's the whole thing yeah, it's pretty much anything that
you could want.
You know, we, we wanted tocater the menu to um.
You could come in and spend $3on because you need a sweet
treat.
But you could come in and stockup on bread and spend $75, and
you know, and also get sweettreats if you really want it.
So we wanted to hit both endsof the spectrum.
Doug (21:12):
So that cause we've all been there at 3 PM when you're
like, oh, what is that the threeo'clock drop by here?
Yeah, I definitely need alittle sweetm.
When you're like, oh, I need abrownie, what is that the three
o'clock drop, I hear, yeah, Idefinitely need a little sweet
treat yeah.
Kate (21:20):
And sometimes I always say that to customers like hey,
it's sweet treat time, rightyeah.
And sometimes they're like yeah.
Doug (21:28):
Now you were saying that Kaylee also does.
Well, keep me honest Customcakes yeah.
Kate (21:40):
You can do cakes wedding or have you done a wedding?
Yeah, actually last year, wow,yes, she did a wedding, um, and
it was a pretty, pretty big one.
Yeah, and she's done.
She's done a lot, but Iremember that's like the the
first one that I remember beinga part of you guys doing yeah
yeah, so, um, we might be calledbrown bear bread company, but
we obviously do a lot more thanbread so.
So people are surprisedsometimes with um the fact that
we do offer custom cakes.
So I like to shout it from therooftops as much as I can um,
(22:00):
and if you look through our feed, you can see some of some of
the cakes that kaylee has done.
Basically, we don't use fondantshe does not use fondant.
Um, it's not that kind of.
I'm not a fan of fondant,nobody really is no.
So, uh, she makes amazingbuttercream like the best
buttercream ever.
So, um, we can do.
She can do pretty much anythingthat you want, from like kids'
(22:20):
birthdays to and smash cakes to,you know, like big, huge sheet
cakes if you need cupcakes, likereally, whatever your menu is
so much more vast than Irealized.
Doug (22:32):
Thank you, yes.
Kate (22:33):
And also, you know, it's so much more vast than what we
previously were able to dobecause we had to focus so much
on food, because that's kind oflike what happened and then we
just, you know, rode with it.
It's, it's nice to be able tobe like no, no, no, look at the
skills that we all actually dohave and let's focus on those
skills.
Yeah, sure, we make great foodand Dan and Kaylee are really
(22:53):
great at that, but it's not themajority of their day anymore.
They can really focus on thethings that they were trained to
do.
You know, Kaylie is actually atrained pastry chef and she does
have a degree from Johnson andWales.
So you know, like this is, thisis what she wants to do, and
Dan has some culinary training?
Yes, he does, and he went to,went to school for a little
while and then had been anexecutive chef for like, or some
(23:17):
kind of cook chef for I don'tknow, 15 years.
Doug (23:20):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, okay, kate, I want toshift gears then to you.
You're doing a lot of the frontof the house, but you did say
you're doing some of the baking.
Kate (23:27):
Yeah, I do some of the baking.
Doug (23:29):
Did you ever see yourself getting into this industry, or
is this where you started?
Kate (23:39):
It's not where I started, but yes, I absolutely could see
myself doing this and I'm really.
It's really like full circle.
How it happened, yeah.
So when I was in college inIthaca, new York, I went to
Ithaca college, not Cornell,everybody's always like oh,
cornell, no, there's another one.
So when I went to college Istarted working at this place
called Sarah's patisserie, andit was this beautiful little
(24:00):
patisserie.
There were two locations in townand I just was working the
counter because I have customerservice experience and I just
needed a part-time job that wasflexible.
I ended up falling in love withit.
Doug (24:12):
I was going to say is this where the bug maybe started?
Yes, for sure.
Kate (24:16):
Well, I mean, I baked as a kid like my grandma really
taught me how to how to do a lotof baking, a lot of Christmas
cookies, things like that.
Doug (24:23):
So how old were you when that started?
Kate (24:25):
Like seven or eight, probably, yeah, and I used to
bake cookies all the time upthrough high school honestly.
So it's something I like doing,but I didn't have the patience
to ever do it right, cause Ijust wanted to get it done so I
could eat it.
Yeah, yeah, it right Cause Ijust wanted to get it done so I
could eat it, yeah, yeah.
So, um, fast forward.
I'm in college, I'm workingthis job.
(24:46):
I end up falling in love withit because what my boss was
doing was just so beautiful andso passionate and she cared so
much about it.
I loved her.
I loved every part of it.
She would trust me eventuallyto start making like ganache and
, you know, whipped cream andfilling macarons and um, baking
the croissants and things likethat, and I really started to be
like this is so special.
Like this this level of baking,this level of bakery that we are
(25:09):
now kind of, I think, enteringum is is beautiful and it is
just such an expression of loveand I wish that people could see
that more.
I think that they do those thatget it get it, those that don't
need to come to Brown Bear andeat something.
Doug (25:26):
They need to slow down and take it in.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
I got two questions for you,Okay.
Number one is that patisseriestill open in Ithaca?
No, it's sadly not.
Kate (25:40):
I ended up leaving Ithaca for a while and went to grad
school and came back and duringthat time she ended up closing
and actually ended up passingaway, and so it feels even more.
I'm getting goosebumps talkingabout it.
You've got to carry the spiriton.
Kind of yeah, and I just Iloved this woman so much and she
was a real pain.
Let me tell you and I justloved her what was her name
Tammy.
(26:00):
Yeah, her name was Tammy and wehad a great time together and I
was her like right hand man andyeah.
So it's not open anymore andshe's no longer with us.
So it kind of feels even morespecial that now.
This is like the level ofattention I'm trying to bring to
our business as well.
Doug (26:15):
You are taking skills that you developed with her in this
current journey that you're on.
Kate (26:20):
Yeah, 100%, and she really cared about every detail being
perfect and I, I don't have thatand I want it, and so I strive
for it, but, um, you know, I did.
Do we do the best?
I do the best I can.
Doug (26:35):
All right, I'm going to get back to another question
that you sparked.
What were you going to collegefor?
Kate (26:40):
I was going to college for vocal performance.
Doug (26:43):
Okay, yes, I think I've heard this.
Kate (26:44):
Okay.
Doug (26:45):
Yes.
Kate (26:45):
I actually am a classically trained opera singer
.
Doug (26:49):
Oh wow so.
Kate (26:50):
I have two degrees in that .
I don't know Are you doing anysinging?
Now, yeah, I just kind ofstarted again I took some time
off because the industry is hardand oh yeah it's.
It's not even that, it's justhard.
It's unfair in many ways theopera industry.
Doug (27:08):
Yeah, I was thinking the baking for a second.
Kate (27:10):
I'm like oh, no, no, no, okay no, the opera industry is
just, you know, it's a lot about, it's elitist in a lot of ways.
Um and I don't want it to beand we, none of us want it to be
, but it is at the end of theday and, um, it just kind of
hurt my feelings.
Doug (27:25):
Oh yeah.
Kate (27:26):
That, that aspect of it, but what?
Doug (27:28):
are you doing now so?
Kate (27:29):
I am singing a little bit now, okay, um, I we're about to
go on break for the summer, but,um, I do sing at a church
downtown in Pittsburgh Okay,first Presbyterian church.
I sing with my friends in thechoir and, like, we lead the
choir and have solos and we havea great time.
We have a great time together.
It's very low stakes and it'swonderful.
Doug (27:47):
Use those pipes.
Kate (27:47):
Yeah, exactly yeah, and and everyone at church is always
so grateful, no matter whatevercomes out of your mouth, you
know like you.
You could think that you soundhorrible because you just drank
three glasses of wine last night, which unfortunately has
happened, and um.
But you know, someone will comeup and say that was really
beautiful, that spoke to me, sothat's nice.
(28:08):
And then, um, I recently sangwith um steel city cabaret.
They're like a little cabaretum project and they host events
and concerts throughout the citythroughout the year, I think
almost monthly.
So they have a pride one comingup.
But I sang in their opera night.
I think I saw this.
Doug (28:25):
Yeah, I posted a lot about it.
Kate (28:26):
Yeah, and it was like kind of a return to public opera
singing for me.
I hadn't done it in a reallylong time and it felt so good
and it hadn't for a long time.
Doug (28:40):
I love that for you.
Kate (28:41):
Thank you, you, you're gonna find your place yeah, and
but the relationship with youknow a person in music,
especially a singer, becauseit's so personal there's no
instrument in front of me tohide behind and there's no
instrument that is, you push abutton and it makes the sound.
I am the instrument and I amnot the same day to day and so
you know that was it's hard.
(29:02):
That's really really hard andreally really personal.
And so taking that time off,like I definitely needed it and
it feels good and for me again.
Doug (29:11):
I like that, so I want to do more into it.
Yeah, do it.
Kate (29:14):
Anybody out there want to put on a recital?
I don't know, hit me up.
Doug (29:18):
Well, since you're taking us there, I would love to ask
about anything coming up and,for the bakery, any big plans,
events or even just goals forthe rest of the year.
Kate (29:30):
Yeah, I would say so.
We have a partnership coming upwith Yelp Pittsburgh, yelp
Elite Pittsburgh.
The group of Yelp Elites arealways kind of going around to
different small businesses oreven just businesses in
Pittsburgh different restaurants, trying new things.
So look out for that.
There's going to be a lot ofmarketing about that and I'm
(29:50):
excited to have everybody.
It's an opportunity for peoplewho are used to city Pittsburgh
things.
For those that don't know, likeYelp elite is a invited group
of people that, uh, have writtenso many five-star reviews that
are detailed, lots of pictures,things like that.
Doug (30:09):
They're actually doing the work.
Yeah, yeah.
Kate (30:11):
They're the ones that you're like.
Oh, wow, that's a great reviewand that makes me want to go to
this place.
Um, so they get rewarded forthat with special things,
special offers, events andthings like that.
So we are happy to be hostingthe elites June 12th through the
19th.
Oh, so this is coming up.
Yeah, so they have like alittle.
You know, they'll come in andsee the bakery and they get a
little something for for being aYelp elite member, so I'm
(30:31):
looking forward to that.
There's always lots of eventshappening in new Brighton it is
like the smallest, most busytown.
It's amazing.
They're always doing something.
That's great, it's really great.
And like I saw a Tik TOKrecently you know talking about
how people glorify living incities and and things like that
but it was like small townsmatter.
(30:52):
This community does matter andmaking a difference, even if
it's in a small town, is stillmaking a difference.
Doug (30:58):
Yeah, but even your move there, business is good.
Business is good.
You moved out of sort of bigcity area to a little less dense
population but it's still agreat place to be for business.
Kate (31:09):
Absolutely.
I really think so, and I thinkthat there's more stuff coming
in Beaver County.
People want it.
It seems to be more youngpeople moving in and starting
and having small businesses andit's really nice to be, you know
, I don't want to say leadingthe charge, but it's really nice
to be there and say, hey, comeon over, it's cool, be part of
(31:29):
this, be part of this.
There's people out here thatwant this, that might not have
this opportunity, you know.
So it's it's, it's cool and it'sreally nice to make a
difference it is the amount ofpeople like little cute old
ladies that come in and to thankme for being open yes is.
Doug (31:47):
I could just cry like it's so cool well, at the end of the
day, Kate, people love a bakery, oh for sure.
So, yes, thank you for allyou're doing.
Thank you anything else interms of events, anything else
coming?
Kate (31:58):
um, we are in the.
We are at the beaver farmer'sMarket every Saturday, probably
through September.
All right, that's from 10 to 1.
And then we will be at theCarnegie Farmer's Market as well
, because we got to representour Carnegie peeps.
I like that a lot, and that'sJuly through September.
Doug (32:13):
So that's on.
Kate (32:14):
Sundays.
So yeah, come out and see us.
Doug (32:16):
Wonderful Kate.
I'm going to ask you a questionI think I know the answer to,
but I want other folks to knowhow did you come up with the
name Brown Bear Bread?
Kate (32:26):
Okay, so Dan and I have been together for six years this
year and we have a dog who camewith me from a previous life
and his name is Luke and he'seight years old and he's a
perfect baby angel.
Doug (32:40):
Of course he is Of course he is.
Kate (32:41):
Yes, and his nickname is Brown Bear.
He just sometimes looks like alittle like a little bear.
He's 80 pounds guys.
He's not little, I don't know,but you know how dogs have a
zillion nicknames.
So Brown Bear happened.
And then we were joking like,oh, wouldn't Brown Bear bread be
fun someday?
Like Brown bear bread?
Ha ha ha.
And then I had a friend drop thelogo with Luke's ears as the
(33:03):
outline and and it just kind ofall made sense and in my mind I
thought it was funny to have alabel, a logo, with dog ears but
be called brown bear.
People are like what the heck?
Doug (33:14):
It's kind of a good marketing thing, cause people do
give that second look and like,huh, they do.
Kate (33:19):
They ask about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's named after oursweet boy and he's my soulmate
dog, like he's obsessed with me.
Yeah, and I'm obsessed with him, so it's fine.
Doug (33:30):
That is the best name ever .
Thanks, all right, Kate.
Why don't we take a moment togive folks your website or any
of your social handles so theycan follow you, if they haven't
discovered you yet?
Kate (33:43):
Okay, so I love to do most of my posting on Instagram,
which is linked to Facebook.
So on Instagram we're atbrownbearbreadco I think that
there's a period between eachword and then on Facebook, same
thing.
Just you know, searchbrownbearbread and we will come
up.
You'll see the logo with thedog ears and that's us, and then
our website is brownbearbreadco.
(34:04):
On the website you can actuallydo a bunch of ordering.
You can order bread, pastries,lots of things, just like your
online shopping.
Yeah, you can also do customcake inquiries there as well.
So check out the website if youhaven't.
Kaylie and I worked really hardon it cake inquiries there as
well.
So check out the website If youhaven't.
Kaylee and I worked really hardon it.
Doug (34:20):
So look at it.
Let's just remind folks yourlike current hours and location.
Kate (34:24):
Sure, so our location is 400 ninth street, suite C
technically, uh, new Brightonand basically we are next to the
state store, and so we're inbetween a pizza shop and a state
store.
Doug (34:37):
Okay, you can't miss it.
Kate (34:39):
Um, and our current hours Monday Tuesdays we're open 10 to
four.
Wednesday we're closed.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10to six.
Sunday 10 to two.
All right, it's a lot.
Yeah, Check the website.
Yeah, Check, yeah, exactly, Ireally try to update Instagram
daily.
Yeah, I'm always posting, Checkus out.
Doug (34:57):
I love it.
Thanks, all right, Kate.
I always have one more questionfor our guests.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh dish.
What's the best dish you've hadto eat this past week?
Kate (35:09):
Okay, I went to this restaurant in Aspin wall called
Cornerstone.
Oh, yes, have you been it hasbeen a few moons since I have
been to cornerstone very randomchoice, um, but it was a
recommendation, and by my bestfriend, Tori, who also loves the
show.
Hey, Tori and um and I had aroasted chicken oh that was
(35:34):
amazing.
I love a properly roastedchicken, you know, like with the
crispy skin, but the juicy meatand it's like kind of hard to
achieve and it's hard to achieve, like exactly the right
temperature and everything, andit was absolute perfection.
I think it had either a creamypolenta or some kind of potato
(35:54):
situation underneath andbroccolini.
Doug (35:57):
And.
Kate (35:58):
I love broccolini.
Doug (35:59):
Oh my.
Kate (35:59):
God, it was so good.
It blew me away because thiswas just such a a random, you
know choice.
Oh, I've never been here long.
Whatever, let's just go.
And oh my God, it was amazing.
Doug (36:09):
I need to get back.
I actually I don't think I'vevisited it in like three years,
yeah, so I'm so glad to hearit's still maintaining great
quality.
Yeah.
Kate (36:19):
It was awesome, yeah, yeah .
Doug (36:21):
Kate Clemons yes, it's been such a pleasure to talk
with you.
Thank you so much for takingsome time and for being on the
Pittsburgh dish.
Kate (36:27):
Thank you so much for having me Doug.
I love dishing about food and Ijust am so glad to be doing
this life.
Doug (36:35):
Oh, thank you so much Thanks.
Up.
Next we stay in the BeaverCounty area and learn about
another great spot from ourfriend, Ashley Cesaratto.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with Ashley Cesaratto of
Eating with Ashley on Instagram.
Ashley, it's been a while.
How have you been?
Ashley (36:53):
I've been really good.
Thanks for having me back.
Doug (36:55):
Yeah, I have seen your feed and you have been going out
to eat to some really coolplaces.
I thought we should talk abouta couple.
Ashley (37:02):
Yeah, for sure.
I've been going out to eat aton, trying some new places and
some places that I know Ialready love, so happy to talk
about everything.
Doug (37:12):
I have noticed geographically, you've stopped
in a couple places that are alittle outside of Pittsburgh.
Has there been a spot thatyou've visited recently that you
think is definitely worth thedrive?
Ashley (37:23):
For sure, Biba in Beaver .
Doug (37:26):
Oh, you know what?
I think I've heard of thisbefore from our friend, Raquel
Holiday, because she lived inBeaver.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, so I think we talkedabout it on her interview last
year.
So you just went there fordinner.
Ashley (37:37):
Yeah, I went a few weeks ago with my husband and our
friends Mike and Liz.
We actually met through myFacebook group and they used to
own Carson Street Deli and CraftBeer.
Doug (37:46):
Oh, that's awesome and we should remind listeners you also
do manage the very popularFacebook group Pittsburgh
Foodies.
Ashley (37:54):
Yeah, we have 86,000 members now.
Doug (37:58):
That is amazing.
Ashley (37:59):
Congratulations.
Thanks, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Doug (38:01):
All right, let's get back to Biba.
So you guys went there fordinner.
Tell us a little bit about thebites, the things that you all
had.
Ashley (38:08):
Sure.
So we started off with focacciabecause our friend Mike said we
had to have it and they serveit with a whipped ricotta and
like a hot honey spread type ofthing.
So put those two thingstogether and it was just the
perfect bite.
Doug (38:22):
Delicious.
Ashley (38:30):
We also had their loaded fries, and you know, when I go
out to eat I always over order.
We always have tons ofleftovers.
But I figured, okay, there'sfour of us, we'll order these
fries.
It was enough to probably feedeight people as an appetizer.
Doug (38:40):
Wait, wait, wait.
Just this order of fries.
Yes, and so was this likeregular French fries, or were
they loaded topped with things?
Ashley (38:47):
So they were topped with a couple different types of
sauces and some cheese and freshjalapenos.
I let Kurt have the freshjalapenos, and the fries
themselves were so well cooked.
They were super crispy andbrown on the outside but soft
and fluffy on the inside, and Ihad to stop myself from eating
(39:07):
too many because I had to saveroom for dinner.
Doug (39:09):
Yeah, it's actually probably hard to do when you're
doing like this huge amount offries.
So kudos to Biba for gettingthe fries right.
Ashley (39:17):
Oh for sure, yeah, and they got the steak right too.
So I don't really order steakout a lot anymore because I like
cooking it at home and it's somuch cheaper at home too.
But I was just feeling a steakthat night and they cooked it
perfectly, and when the servertook our order she actually
didn't even ask how I wanted itcooked.
So they just do it medium rareand do it perfectly, and it was
(39:42):
served with these potatoes andbutter sauce and some
chimichurri and it was thatperfect combination of richness
from the butter and thebrightness from the chimichurri
Just incredible.
Doug (39:53):
I love that combination with that little chimichurri to
brighten everything up.
All right, what else wasnotable?
Ashley (39:59):
Well, my neighbor and I were talking recently and she
loves mushrooms.
She is crazy about them and Iwas thinking what thing, what
food item am I crazy about?
And it's beets.
So anytime I see beets on themenu, which is usually in the
form of a salad, I have to orderthem.
Yes, so we got a beet salad andit was just loaded with beets
(40:21):
and again some cheese On themenu.
It was gorgonzola cheese withthe salad, but I asked if I
could have goat cheese instead,because I just prefer that
combination, and it wasincredible.
It was tangy and a little bitsweet, and they use local
lettuces.
Just perfect, I love that.
(40:46):
We got a few other things too,like pasta and fish, and
everything was incredible.
I mean no notes, no critiques,Now, did you get any dessert?
We did, we got a trace letchase strawberry cake and it was
like the one of the top threedesserts I've ever had.
Doug (41:04):
That is saying something.
Ashley (41:06):
Yeah, it was incredible, and I'm a pretty tough critic
when it comes to dessertsbecause I bake a lot.
Doug (41:12):
Yeah.
Ashley (41:13):
And this was just fantastic.
I mean it wasn't too sweet,which I, you know.
It's like people kind of jokearound that you know you're old
when you say that you like adessert because it's not too
sweet.
Yeah, I'm getting there.
Doug (41:28):
That's me.
Ashley (41:29):
Right, but it really it wasn't too sweet.
It was so well balanced and yougot like the milky creaminess
from the condensed milk and thefresh strawberries and whipped
cream and it was perfect.
We actually had to get an orderto go because we loved it so
much, oh wow.
And then on our way home, wewere talking about our neighbor
(41:50):
who she's just finishing upchemo, and we're like you know
what my husband was like?
Well, why don't we give this toher?
So we dropped it off at herhouse and chatted about our
dinner.
Doug (42:02):
Oh my gosh, don't we give this to her?
Ashley (42:03):
so we dropped it off at her house and and uh, chatted
about our dinner.
Yeah, giving it, sharing itwith somebody, was better than
being a little bit gluttonousand having a second serving to
ourselves that is the best story.
Doug (42:12):
What a great neighbor you guys are.
Thank you so much, ashley.
And so we are talking aboutbiba in beaver.
I think it's on third street.
Yeah, it's right on the maindrag.
That's right.
Thanks again, ashley.
Thanks, you can follow Ashleyon Instagram at
eatingwithashleypgh If you'relooking to level up your summer
(42:34):
burger game on the home grilland you want to make sure to
take your sides to the nextlevel as well.
We get an ingredient tip fromour friend Dagny Como of Dagny's
Eatery.
Let's have a listen.
Dagny (42:46):
I will say on a whole different note.
I don't know if it's I won'tsay the best, but really good.
I just made fries last nightand beef tallow.
It's my first time.
Doug (42:54):
Okay.
Dagny (42:54):
And I will say that I get it now it's good.
So like I, and I made like afew.
So there me I was, like Isoaked some in water, then some
I didn't, then some of likeparmesan, rosemary, some just
had salt so like I'mexperimenting, I'm giving them.
Well, I want to do this at eightthis weekend, so I'm giving my
daughter, like, try this platewhen I'll try this plate, do you
like them?
(43:15):
Is one crunchier.
Oh, I love it, but um, I'venever cooked with that, so it
was kind of like somethingdifferent.
But really good I guess, that'swhat.
Mcdonald's used to do back inthe day.
Doug (43:22):
That's what I heard back in the day.
And now high-end restaurants doit now.
Dagny (43:26):
Yeah, and I get it, so it was kind of cool to do that.
Doug (43:29):
Beef tallow french fries.
Dagny (43:31):
Yeah, Dagny, thank you so much for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish yeah.
Doug (43:44):
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us.
Just visit our website atwwwpittsburghdishcom and look
for our share a recipe form.
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
(44:06):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
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