Courtesy / Solo Pane e Pasticceria
An array of offerings at Solo Pane e Pasticceria.
Updated: December 19, 2022
An Italian-inspired bakery in Bath features ‘pane e pasticceria’
Courtesy / Solo Pane e Pasticceria
From left, Leon Olds, Simone Laboa, Jesse Bania and Mercedes and Paolo Laboa at Solo Pane e Pasticceria in Bath.
Panettone made with candied orange and raisins from Agrimontana, Sicily, served with or dipped in espresso or vin Santo.
Torrone, ricotta and prosciutto crudo on olive bread, speck and stracchino cheese on focaccia.
Those are some of the Italian-inspired breads and pastries being served up by Solo Pane e Pasticceria in downtown Bath.
The bakery opened on a lease earlier this year and recently finalized the purchase of its space as both wholesale and retail demand grew.
Genova Centre Street Holdings LLC, doing business as Solo Pane e Pasticceria, bought 25-29 Centre St. from Centre Street Properties LLC for $683,800.
Mike Anderson of Malone Commercial Brokers represented the buyer and Mandy Reynolds of Magnusson-Balfour Commercial Brokers representing the seller in the off-market transaction.
Built in 1905 and renovated in 2019, the 3,770-square-foot retail building has three storefronts, one of which was formerly occupied by Centre Street Bakery. The bakery space, at 29 Centre St., features pressed tin ceilings, exposed brick walls, updated electrical and plumbing systems, a triple deck bread oven, one 60-quart and two 30-quart mixers, and a six-burner gas stove and hood system.
Courtesy / Magnusson-Balfour Commercial Brokers
The bakery and retail space, seen here before it was purchased by Solo Pane e Pasticceria, features pressed tin ceilings and exposed brick walls.
Solo Pane e Pasticceria has gone into 29 Centre St. The other two storefronts in the building are leased by Southgate Family Restaurant and Paperback Trader.
Solo Pane e Pasticceria is an Italian bakery that’s part of a group of three related businesses.
The background
In 2016, partners Jesse Bania and Mercedes and Paolo Laboa started a restaurant called Solo Italiano in a leased space at 100 Commercial St. in Portland. Bania, previously trained in hospitality in New York City and a bartender in the Midwest, met the Laboas when he moved to Maine to continue his restaurant career. Paolo was an executive chef and Bania ended up working with him. The Laboas had an idea for starting a restaurant with “an authentic Italian concept,” Bania said.
In 2020, Solo Cucina Market opened in a leased space at 161 Ocean St. in the Knightville neighborhood of South Portland. The idea was to sell sauces, pastas and dough, as well as olive oil, cheeses and produce.
At Solo Cucina Market, the partners hired a baker, Leon Olds, who built a pastry and bread program in a small bakery space at the South Portland location.
The partners began to sell the breads wholesale to meet local demand. Bania said it was Olds who suggested searching for a larger bakery space as demand grew.
“We started asking around for what might be available and, through our realtor, came across the space in Bath,” he said.
The Laboas lived in New Gloucester at the time but agreed to move to Bath while Bania remained in Portland.
Courtesy / Solo Pane e Pasticceria
The bakery purchase included a triple deck bread oven.
In March, Solo Pane e Pasticceria opened on a lease at 29 Centre St. but also asked the building’s owner to grant them the exclusive right tot purchase the building if she ever wanted to sell it.
“We ended up doing so,” Bania said.
Pasticcio, the Italian word for pastry, essentially translates into “reconstructed mess” or a “transformation of ingredients that occurs requires both scientific precision and a creative mastery,” the website says.
In Bath, the bakery continued its production for wholesale customers. The bakery now distributes to about 10 wholesale accounts such as coffees shops, restaurants and markets along the coast of Maine.
Over the summer, the bakery opened for retail service. It’s now looking to expand to six days per week.
All the baked goods are made from scratch, including pastries, fermented breads, a version of baguette called stirato, sourdough bread, brioche and a version of croissant known as cornetti.
Olds is the head baker. But Bania credited Paolo Laboa as being the brainchild behind the Italian pastries. The Laboas’ son, Simone, is a pastry chef trained in Genoa, Italy and is planning to manage Solo Pane’s pastry program once his visa is approved.
The bakery has about 15 employees and has been adding to its staff pretty regularly, he said. Further hiring is expected.
Courtesy / Solo Pane e Pasticceria
Solo Pane e Pasticceria sandwiches include ricotta and prosciutto crudo on olive bread and speck and stracchino cheese on stirato.
“We’re trying to establish specific operational positions, like an accounts manager and a kitchen manager,” he said.
Across the three locations, the business has about 65 employees.
Why Bath?
“The answer is, ‘Why not Bath?’” said Bania.
The partners had all kinds of concepts percolating in their heads and were open to a radius of 30 to 40 minutes outside of Portland if it was the right space and the right place.
“We walked in and said, ‘This is a beautiful space,’” said Bania. “If anything, being outside of Portland allows us to tap into other communities that might want fresh breads and pastries.”
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