Vincenzo Mazzone and Lenora Schmecko, Winchester’s newest bakery’s owners, drew inspiration from their Italian backgrounds. The brother and sister grew up amongst three generations of restaurant entrepreneurs and bakers, and are proud to open Knead Bread, 28 E Piccadilly St, a European-style bakery that specializes in fresh breads and baked items.. Everything is hand cut and hand formed, and the ingredients are of the greatest quality. Lenora’s dietary philosophy is that everything should be fresh, honest, and clean. Because there are no preservatives, the breads and sweets must be consumed within a couple of days after being made.
Food in Europe is organic, pesticide-free, and unaltered. With their offerings, Vincenzo and Lenora have done the same. According to Lenora, you can incorporate shopping for fresh foods into your everyday routine. Shopping this way becomes a social event, it fosters a sense of community because you know where everything is coming from. She believes it motivates you to be mindful of what you consume. She wants the next generation to understand that they have power over their food and how it affects them.
The siblings have created a pleasant atmosphere where newcomers are welcomed just as cordially as regulars. The shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sundays. Daily bread selections are listed online, as well as muffins, crumb cake, scones, and cinnamon rolls. Throughout the week, the bakers add specialty products to the menu, giving consumers an incentive to return.
Knead Bread allows us to take a breather and slow down in today’s fast-paced environment, grab a cup of coffee, and strike up a discussion.
Baking begins at 3 a.m. as a labor of love. Knead Bread is currently producing 125 loaves of bread and 140 scones every day at the time of our interview, in addition to all of the other daily offerings. Lenora beams when people tell her how pleased they are to have this bakery in Winchester.
Vincenzo and Lenora have strong backgrounds in the culinary industry. Frank Ferrara, their grandfather on their mother’s side, was a restaurant entrepreneur. Their grandmother, Lenore, was a baker who taught her grandchildren how to bake from scratch. Their father had a luncheonette in Brooklyn, where he cooked his own bread. In his retirement, he taught two of his sons how to bake, just like his mother had done for him. Vincenzo and Lenora’s father was the driving cause behind their decision to create a bakery. Lenora remembers her father always telling her how essential it is to have a dream. He would remind her that if she gave up on her dream, she would stop living. Their father died last year at the age of 84. Vincenzo and Lenora have opened Knead Bread to give birth to their dream in his honor.