Michael Bruno fronts the best bakery west of the Atlantic. (Yes, the ocean.)
Those who know me would be amazed to hear I dragged my derriere out of bed at 4 am to make it to the corner of State and Broad in Cuyahoga Falls by 5 am. I was assigned a portrait of Mike Bruno, the owner of the Golden Goose Bakery. This is an outtake from the shoot (for Cleveland Magazine… look for the article to be published in the January issue, City Life section). If every early morning promised to be so scrumptious, I’d have no trouble getting up early!
Everything is fresh-baked that morning (Mike gets up even earlier than I had to). The chocolate croissant melted in my mouth. (My wife almost strangled me when I only brought her one!) I gave an almond croissant to a friend and he started making moaning sounds. He loved it. My mom and brother each got an almond-apricot pastry and ate them immediately.
Yes, after waking up at 4 am I bought pastry for everyone I was going to see that day, and hand delivered it… then went to another shoot, then did some home maintenance, got my tires balanced and took a friend out to the movies for his birthday and got a beer afterward and made it home by 1 am. Wow, 21 hours straight!
Maybe I should’ve stayed awake and gone back to the bakery for more!
