A tour of Bakers’ Best in Needham, which has been in business for 40 years
Bakers’ Best turns 40 on July 31, 2024. Here’s a tour of the 20,000-square-foot catering facility in Needham.
NEEDHAM — Forty years ago, Michael Baker opened a 500-square-foot takeaway restaurant in Newton Highlands. Today, Bakers’ Best provides catering services to thousands of corporate and private clients, fulfilling huge orders every day, such as 1,600 packed lunches or a full-service dinner for 850 people.
At 4 a.m., the kitchen at Bakers’ Best in Needham is already bustling with activity. Employees — many of them have been with the company for up to 25 years — Quickly prepare orders including quesadillas, sandwiches, brownies, cakes, cookies, scones, muffins, cinnamon rolls, salads, meatballs, fruit platters and more.
Baker, 76, is proud that the company, which now employs 150 people and operates out of a 20,000-square-foot facility on Gould Street, makes its own salsa and salad dressings.
“Probably the best salad dressings in town,” he said.
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And they don’t take shortcuts when preparing recipes like corn and avocado salad.
“We grill the corn and take it off the cob,” Baker said.
He said the company still uses fresh turkey breasts and gets the best bread available for sandwiches
Baker believes that attention to detail, quality ingredients, consistency and service are the secrets to his company’s success.
Michael Baker says he is a self-taught foodie
Baker said he has always been a foodie but never had any formal training in the culinary arts.
After graduating from Miami University with majors in sociology and philosophy, he worked in his family’s metal plating business.
But Baker wasn’t satisfied. Instead, he was looking for a good turkey sandwich and the kind of service he had experienced during his childhood in the 1950s.
Baker decided to take a risk and open his own small restaurant business, just around the corner from his home in Newton Highlands at 16 Lincoln St.
From day one, he carved fresh turkeys in the window and gave out freshly baked cookies to children for free.
“We hit the ground running from the day we opened,” Baker said.
A Newton resident’s memories of Bakers’ Best
Alison Haran, administrator of the All Over Newton Facebook page and a sales associate at Coldwell Banker, remembers that when Bakers’ Best was in its original location from 1984 to 2011, it attracted around 700 customers a day, with lines stretching out onto the street.
“These days, you don’t even know who a lot of restaurant owners are,” Haran said. “You don’t know the business. He was there every day, handing out cookies and making sure the order was OK.”
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Baker’s early success led him to open a larger restaurant (2,000 square feet) across the street at 27 Lincoln Street. He then expanded the restaurant by taking space in the adjacent vacant storefront, increasing it to 4,000 square feet with 50 seats.
“We had one of the best brunches in the city and were named ‘Best of Boston’ for ten years in a row,” Baker said.
The catering business began in Needham in 2007, at the time in a 930 square meter facility. This space was later doubled.
In 2011, Baker decided to focus exclusively on catering in Needham and closed the Newton restaurant.
Importance of appreciation
To this day, Baker calls customers to thank them for their orders whenever he can. As a token of his appreciation, he regularly sends his customers Bakers’ Best cupcakes, baked using his mother’s original recipe.
He also recognizes employees on the occasion of their work anniversaries.
Baker said he has taken many clients from their first birthday to their wedding and sometimes to funerals. He said the company’s growth has been largely due to word of mouth.
A new era begins for Bakers’ Best Catering
Two years ago, Baker sold his company to Waltham-based Gordon’s Fine Wine and Liquors, but stayed on board as a consultant.
David Gordon, president of Gordon’s and co-owner of Bakers’ Best with his brother Kenny, said his first paying job 26 years ago was making sandwiches for Bakers’ Best when he was 16.
“We saw it as the next step for Gordon’s to get into the food and restaurant business,” said David Gordon. He said Gordon’s, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, is looking to expand its operations to include more than 100 restaurants.th The company, which began its 2014/15 financial year this fall, shares the same values as Baker’s, especially when it comes to showing appreciation to customers.
He said a new retail location for Gordon’s will open at the Needham plant (150 Gould Street), with a tasting room that will host events.
Gordon also said officials are considering opening a Bakers’ Best cafe.
