Meet Steve Babiak of Benny’s Bakery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Babiak

Hi Steve, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was hired at Benny’s Bakery in 2000. I came from a background as a chef and was not as familiar with the world of baking. I applied for the job, hoping to learn as much as I could about baking. My son Cameron was 18 months old at the time and I walked over to the bakery in the snow, towing Cameron in a blue plastic sled for the interview. Benny and his wife Claudia interviewed me and gave me the job. I started at 3:00 a.m. making donuts and pastries. As I gained knowledge and began to love baking I inquired about taking over the business when Benny was ready to retire. I bought the bakery in 2005.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been several bumps in the road throughout the years. One major bump was the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to adjust the way we did business, serving customers at a distance and working with supply chain issues. We had to increase our bread production as many grocery store shelves were without bread. In addition, throughout the years we have dealt with equipment, failures, paper product shortages, and are currently dealing with egg shortages and skyrocketing prices on many ingredients.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Benny’s Bakery ?
Benny’s Bakery’s goal is to make the most delicious and freshest products possible, and to make our customers feel valued and welcomed. We make fresh breads every day and have daily specials on artisan breads like farm, sourdough and rye. We are the only business in Saline that makes their donuts in-house from scratch, and we have daily specials on certain flavors. Benny’s makes an assortment of pastries including danishes, turnovers, croissants, pecan rolls and an immensely popular iced cinnamon roll we call a Buffalo. We offer chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, date and peanut butter cookies daily, as well as some decorated cookies which vary in theme with the season. All of our cakes are custom, giving the customer the opportunity to order something completely unique. We also offer savory items such as soups, ham and cheese bites, pizza rolls, quiches, and pierogi made from my Polish grandmother’s recipe. We are best known for our hand-twisted soft German pretzels, baked fresh every Saturday morning. As we approach Fat Tuesday we will be making traditional paczki by the hundreds of dozens. These are also make completely in-house from start to finish. Ordering ahead is a good idea as we sell out of this once-a-year treat quickly.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
It is not my earliest childhood memory, but one of my most vivid and cherished memories is ski trips with my aunt and uncle in Vail, Colorado. They gave me a lifelong appreciation of nature, and a love of the mountains and skiing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bennysbakery.com
• Instagram: bennysbakerysaline
• Facebook: bennysbakery