Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Everybody's business

Baking is in the end all about chemistry

A former chemist, tired of his corporate job, takes over the Great Harvest Bread Co. in SoHo with his partner.

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published October 21, 2005

How does a former chemist end up a baker?

Rob Bucenell found himself asking that same question when he took over the Great Harvest Bread Co. at 500 S Howard Ave.

Then he remembered what a chemistry professor once told him: "Cooking and baking is nothing more than applied chemistry."

It also helped that Bucenell (pronounced BUSH-nel) was tired of his corporate job and already a big fan of the Montana bakery chain's SoHo outpost. So he and his partner, Tom Silver, looked into opening their own Great Harvest store in St. Petersburg.

Shortly thereafter, SoHo Great Harvest owners Keri Eisenbeis and Michael Matthews told them they wanted to sell their store. Bucenell and Silver, who live in Hyde Park and will soon move to a townhome two blocks from the bakery, jumped at the chance and bought the store in late September.

Since opening in mid 2003, the SoHo Great Harvest has built a strong following with its bread baked from flour milled on site and its upbeat atmosphere and community involvement.

Of all the store's loyal customers, Bucenell and Silver seemed the most fit to take over the business, Eisenbeis said.

"We couldn't have imagined it with better people," she said.

Eisenbeis and Matthews, who also left the corporate world to open the Great Harvest, decided to sell the bakery so they could devote more time to their 6-month-old daughter, Emma.

Matthews also travels frequently to Africa as an economist, a job he maintained during and before his Great Harvest stint.

The family lives on Davis Islands and will soon take a vacation to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Bucenell, who previously worked for Transitions Optical in Pinellas Park, said not much will change at the Great Harvest, besides the coffee and tea selection expanding in 2006.

PUBLIX SPAWNING: The Lakeland supermarket chain plans to increase its presence in downtown South Tampa.

Crews have cleared land next to the grocery store at Dale Mabry Highway and Neptune Street to make way for a proposed Publix liquor store and Crispers restaurant. A Bank of America branch is also slated to occupy a building proposed for the site.

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said the liquor store is still in the permitting and zoning phase. If approved, it would be the first Publix Liquors in the bay area. Publix Liquors has locations in South Florida, Kissimmee and Auburndale.

Crispers - a Lakeland restaurant chain that features salads, soups and sandwiches - has 34 locations across Florida. Founded in 1989 by former Discount Auto Parts executives, Crispers became an investment of Publix in 2002. Two years later, Publix became a majority owner.

Crispers president and chief executive officer Mike Calhoon said the Dale Mabry location will be a typical Crispers prototype, with 5,400 square feet and seating for 160 to 190 diners. It will also offer takeout, a significant portion of Crispers' business.

The restaurant is expected to open in April, Calhoon said. Opening future Crispers restaurants next to Publix stores won't necessarily be a matter of course, but it will be considered, he added.

"A Publix customer is also our customer," he said. "Middle class to upper-middle class to upper class. Someone who cares about quality, excellent customer service."

Crispers has locations in Carrollwood and Brandon. New Tampa and Temple Terrace locations are planned for next year, Calhoon said.

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS SWEETENING: The long anticipated dessert and coffee shop next to Forever Beautiful Salon and Day Spa, 5135 N Florida Ave., is nearing completion.

The shop has been on the drawing board since 2000 when Elizabeth Graham bought a 1908 bungalow on nearby Hillsborough Avenue and its accompanying garage apartment.

She moved the buildings to their current site, turned the house into Forever Beautiful and devised plans to convert the garage apartment into a dessert and coffee shop.

After a series of delays, construction has finally begun.

Graham won't comment yet, but if appearances count for anything, the shop might be done before Starbucks opens early next year at Hillsborough and Central avenues.

Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3394 or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 09:03:09]