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Skip the Bar -- Unwind at the Bakery

Carl Garrett

Bakers usually start their day early – putting dough in the oven before sunrise, but in Charlottesville some are working late – showcasing their craft as the perfect way  to unwind. 

Cameron is the senior baker at Great Harvest – arriving at 3 a.m.-- but he was happy to return at 6 p.m., joining 18 real estate, mortgage and insurance brokers  to demonstrate the art of baking bread.

"Just like any physical activity or artistic endeavor, there’s something very satisfying about it,” he explains.

Co-owner Aileen Magnotto got the idea for a wine-sipping and bread-baking event after showing some kids around the bakery.

“I was doing a tour and the parents were all very interested in learning how to make bread," she recalls. "We came up with the name Knead and Sip, because all the kids had sippy cups, and I thought we could change the sip for the adults.”

The idea appealed to mortgage broker Carl Garrett who organized this party.

“There was time to just sit around while the dough was rising and the bread was baking and sip some wine and just talk to each other as people instead of folks on either side of a transaction,” he says.

Magnotto agrees, adding other groups are happy to don aprons and chefs’ hats.

“A lot of corporate people use this as a team-building event as well as a lot of  mommy groups come in here.  I think they just love to get out of the house, do something social and learn something at the same time.”

The cost for groups of ten or more is $35 per person.  That includes sandwiches and a loaf of bread.  The wine is extra.  

Editor's note:  Great Harvest is a financial supporter of RadioIQ.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief