Kevin Masse has at all times been drawn to the kitchen, the place the rhythm of cooking and baking was on the coronary heart of his upbringing. Rising up in Syracuse, New York, the kitchen was a full of life place each evening because the household gathered across the desk, with high quality substances at all times on the heart of their meals. His Italian grandmother, too, performed a key position in igniting his deep love for meals. It was by her facet that he first discovered to bake with contemporary dough, as she lovingly crafted her selfmade pizzas for the household to take pleasure in.“I believe the primary time I cooked dinner for my household, I used to be in all probability 10 or 11 years outdated,” Kevin recollects. “It has at all times been part of my life.” His love for the precision and methodical nature of baking grew in highschool, although he by no means imagined it might flip right into a profession.
For years, baking stayed a cherished passion. Even whereas he labored in advertising and media in New York Metropolis, Kevin discovered time to bake for dinner events and workplace gatherings. A serendipitous shift into meals media reignited his ardour for baking. Throughout this time, he labored with Bake from Scratch, creating content material partnerships with lots of the manufacturers that proceed to collaborate with the publication at present. This additionally led to him contributing the quilt recipe to the Could/June 2017 problem, a second that foreshadowed his future within the baking world.
In 2019, Kevin’s journey took a pivotal flip. After relocating from New York Metropolis to the Hartford, Connecticut, space along with his husband, Michael, a professor at Trinity School, Kevin secured one among West Hartford’s first cottage meals licenses—simply because it grew to become authorized for dwelling bakers to promote on to customers. About the identical time, he was gifted a sourdough starter by his good friend cookbook creator Terry Walters. This starter—and the sourdough methods she shared with him—grew to become the inspiration of Small State Provisions.
“I began making a few loaves every week,” Kevin says. “I used to be baking in Dutch ovens at dwelling, promoting on a subscription mannequin.” Clients signed up for eight-week periods, throughout which Kevin delivered contemporary loaves straight to their doorways. It was a small, sustainable operation—till every thing modified in March 2020.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, contactless supply grew to become a necessity, and Kevin tailored rapidly, baking and dropping off loaves at prospects’ houses. “I had this second the place I assumed, ‘I can both cease doing this or lean in and make it work,’” he says. He selected the latter, and earlier than lengthy, Small State Provisions outgrew his dwelling kitchen. He transformed a part of his home right into a bakery, establishing a shaping desk, a bread oven, and a 40-quart spiral mixer.
By the tip of 2020, it was clear this was now not only a facet venture. With a number of full-time staff counting on him, Kevin made the leap to full-time bakery proprietor. The bakery’s first retail location, a comfy 200-square-foot house, opened in July 2021. It rapidly grew to become obvious they wanted extra room. In July 2023, Small State Provisions moved into a bigger house, increasing right into a full café expertise and elevated manufacturing.
Behind this success is a real household effort. His husband helped get the bakery off the bottom, whereas his dad is Chief Expertise Officer, his stepmom is Chief Monetary Officer, and his stepdad is his accountant. “It actually does take a village to open a bakery and develop it,” Kevin says. “And I’m so grateful for mine.”
However Small State Provisions isn’t nearly making nice bread and pastries—it’s about creating an area the place prospects really feel seen and valued. “We greet each buyer as in the event that they have been household,” Kevin says. “We get to know them, their children’ names, their orders. It’s not only a transaction; it’s about connection.”
That sense of hospitality extends to his crew as nicely. Kevin created a set of core values—his personal model of the Ten Commandments—to make sure his staff really feel supported. “Household comes first, second, and third,” he explains. “I need my crew to know that their private lives matter, that we respect their time and commitments exterior of labor.”
From the beginning, Small State Provisions has targeted on high-quality, natural substances. “Whenever you’re solely working with flour, salt, and water, it’s a must to take note of the small print,” Kevin says. His crew sources natural grains each time attainable, together with regionally milled rye flour from a small producer in Hadley, Massachusetts. “We attempt to work with small, native suppliers first earlier than turning to nationwide ones,” he says. “It’s about supporting our neighborhood.”
Kevin’s dedication to high quality extends to his different baked items, too. The bakery began with simply two sorts of cookies and one scone, however at present, the pastry case overflows with butter croissants, chocolate croissants, almond croissants, banana bread, and extra. Should you go to the bakery, three must-try gadgets are his chewy gingerbread cookies, signature sourdough, and never-too-sweet blueberry scones.
Now, Small State Provisions has two places and employs greater than 30 folks, a mixture of full- and part-time employees. A few of them are highschool college students getting their first style of the working world—one thing Kevin likes to assist, impressed by his personal teenage job at regional grocery store Wegmans. “I really like that we will supply an area the place younger folks can be taught the artwork of hospitality,” he says. “They’re a part of one thing greater right here.”
Whereas Kevin nonetheless spends time within the manufacturing kitchen, his position has developed. A management course with the Bread Bakers Guild of America launched him to the idea of working from “the balcony”—stepping again to supervise operations quite than being hands-on in manufacturing. “It’s a transition I’m working by way of,” he admits. “However I really like main the crew and ensuring they really feel supported.”
By all the expansion and success, Kevin’s love for baking stays unchanged. “It’s nonetheless magical to me,” he says. “Taking one thing uncooked, placing it within the oven, and pulling out one thing fully remodeled—it by no means will get outdated.”
His private favorites? The bakery’s sourdough baguettes, which remind him of his travels to Paris. He additionally loves the focaccia, baked in a sq. pan with extra-virgin olive oil, rosemary, and sea salt. “That one’s actually particular,” he says. “It’s easy however excellent.”
Connecticut, the third-smallest state within the nation, impressed the identify Small State Provisions. Whereas the identify displays the state’s measurement, the bakery itself represents one thing a lot greater: a enterprise that has grown from a small cottage operation right into a cornerstone of its neighborhood, constructed on the values of high quality, connection, and care—one thoughtfully crafted loaf at a time.
