A LABOR DAY SALUTE

Several decades ago, Barak Olins moved to Maine to build boats in Rockport, a quiescent picture-perfect town hugging the Atlantic. After a few years, Barak admitted, “I enjoyed the tradition, the craft and the tools of boat-building, but the process ran on too long and THEN the product went to a single customer. So I decided to follow my  lifelong passion for baking which I could share with more than one person.” 

Barak started baking in a Freeport barn equipped with a hand-built wood-fired oven, then sold his crusty breads at farmers markets in Brunswick. He said, “On Fridays, the day before market, I slept in the barn on a cot. The following day, after a few hours of sleep, I’d haul 180 pastries and 300 loaves of bread to the market. It was ‘romantic’ for years! But then I realized, I can’t do this anymore.”  

So he opened a bakery in Portland in October, 2022.

He named the Bakery ZU, explaining, “I was looking for an original name and was playing with graphics and letters. My mission was to get children interested in whole grains and new breads. When I put a Z with a U, it just worked. Plus, I liked it!”

Zu Bakery is situated on a quiet street in a residential area of Portland, Maine’s largest city. But within weeks, word spread through town that Zu was something special. So special, in fact, that this summer it captured the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Bakery” in Maine. When I read about that, my first thought was:  road trip! So I drove up to Portland.

When I arrived at the 650-square-foot space, I was  …. at first, anyway …. a bit underwhelmed. It wasn’t fancy or posh. On the outside, it looked like a simple Mom & Pop operation. But I joined the line of eager customers (even at 3 PM!), and waited to get inside.

It took only one bite of a currant-laden Irish scone to verify that owner-baker Barak Olins is a culinary artist and well-deserving of the coveted James Beard award. The scone was light, flavorful and damn good! Barak told me, “The trick is how you handle it. You don’t want to overwork the dough.”

His favorte bread is a Pave (French for “paving stone”) due to its large, rectangular and slightly flat shape. “But my breads, with few excdeptions, are fairly simple and rustic. I aim to do everything at room temperature and don’t like relying on technology because I like being in touch with the dough.” Other delectables include morning pastries and croissants in five flavors, artisinal rustic breads, pizzettes, focaccia and brownies. 

Barak and his crew start baking at 5 AM and continue all day so customers always get fresh and warm goods.  (“Hot and Now” as the folks at Krispie Kreme might say.)

Unlike many gifted cooks, no one in Barak’s family steered him to his baking profession. “But we traveled a lot, exposing me to truly good and diverse food. Open kitchens attracted me too, which is why Zu has one. I want our customers to see us making bread.”

So…. a Labor Day salute to this modest man who gave up boat-building to become a baker, who knows the rewards of hard work, and who is recognized as “outstanding” by the James Beard Foundation.

Colin Powell says it best: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”