In 2018, Matt Horwitz-Lee and his family left their life in Baltimore, Maryland, to be closer to his ailing father and were thankfully able to be there for him when he passed. Afterwards, it became a question of where to go and what to do next with their lives. The pandemic arrived soon after and, with his wife’s family already living in Maine, they chose to take a chance on Stockton Springs. They were drawn to the area and were struck by the vastness and beauty of the land, especially the views of Mount Waldo and Mount Katahdin. Interestingly, they purchased their home from another baking family with the last name, “Baker” and would go on to convert their two car garage into a commercial baking space. During the challenging years of the pandemic, Matt found himself searching for sanity and joy in the kitchen every day, trying to reproduce the bread that he loved growing up around Boston. His family and friends loved his bread and noticed that he was always baking and asked him the question that started The Good Loaf: “Why don’t you just do that?”
Although he had previously been a violin instructor and youth orchestra conductor while living in Baltimore, Matt had also had experience in the food industry throughout his life— first as a Chinese food restaurant family growing up, and then as a caterer and chef. That being said, learning to be a baker is quite different form being a chef. He had to visit local bakeries and talk to many bread makers, read countless books, and watch many videos on how to make sourdough bread and laminated pastry. He shared that it helped to have the mindset that “I have the ability to learn whatever I put my heart and mind into,” so even though the task was daunting, he chose to go for it. He shared that the learning continues to be a steep curve (but is always interesting!) and that his current mantra is: “Imagine, create, observe, adjust.”
The growth of The Good Loaf has been extraordinary, with the pace itself having undergone a lot of transformation, becoming much like an efficient ship maximizing every inch of space. Matt is met with the constant question of how to grow sustainably and in a way that does not consume all of his time; balancing work life and family life is a delicate dance that is always on his mind. Currently, he has one employee other than himself at the bakery.
