New CT bakery and cafe, ‘a happy place’ where ‘the view is beautiful’ and customers gather
Kevin Masse started baking organic, handcrafted sourdough bread for sale at his home in 2019.
A year later he opened a small, 200-square-foot storefront in West Hartford’s Gastropark.
Now he’s wowing customers with a new 2,200 square-foot open floor plan bakery/cafe in Avon.
In just a few months, his Small State Provisions has become a “community hub,” he said, along with a place that that sells breads, breakfast sandwiches, cookies, scones, muffins and other baked goods customers say they can’t get enough of.
“It’s a labor of love,” Masse said. “For me it’s about the community. I like bringing people into both our spaces. I like seeing people have fun.”
Masse also kept his original space located in West Hartford’s Gastropark, 637 New Park Ave.
The Avon location at 205 Old Farms Road, Unit 2, takes the business to a new level.
The scenic Avon space has 16 windows, sweeping views of Talcott mountain, a lot of colors and Navy blue ceilings that Masse says contrast nicely with a pink state-of the art coffee service machine.
The space was designed so people could see products being made, he said.
“People love watching how things are made,” Masse said. “The oven is at the heart of that.”
Regular customer Lauren Ursillo loves the food, the space and the warm vibe.
“Food wise I do have my favorites, but there’s nothing I won’t try and enjoy,” she said.
Her five kids have their favorites, a son loves the loves the ginger molasses cookies and a daughter the ham and cheese baguette.
Ursillo said the family uses the bakery, “in all different ways.” When her mom and her husband’s mom visit on a weekend, the family gets some of everything and cut it up.
Sometimes she meets friends during the week to have a breakfast sandwich and relax.
“It’s a happy place,” she said. “The view is beautiful. Kevin gets to know everyone who comes in. There are always hugs.”
Customer Annie Tomlin, who has two boys ages 3 and 6, said Small State Provisions is “fantastic” and Masse “treats everybody warmly and with kindness.”
Tomlin said their family moved here from Los Angeles where they had their list of favorite places and now here, it’s Small State Provisions.
“There’s something wonderfully reassuring about having a bakery you love,” Tomlin said. “It made us adjust to our new coast and our new state much more smoothly.”
She said the bakery is a “tremendous asset for Greater Hartford.
“To have a bakery of this caliber is a privilege,” she said.
Masse’s husband, Michael Grubb, is a full-time professor at Trinity College, but pitches in to help at the bakery. The couple have been married since 2013.
Masse’s mom and dad who live in New York state also help out.
Masse, who baked with his grandmother as a child, worked in marketing for over a decade, and also worked for a baking magazine.
“I’ve been baking for my whole life. As a kid I made bread and pizza with my grandmother,” he said.
When he and Grubb moved to Connecticut, Grubb connected him with an expert baker and cookbook author, who taught him how to make sourdough.
That’s when his professional interest in baking took off.
Masse said his sourdough is flavorful, but not sour.
Most of his products are organic and items like pies and cakes not found on the regular menu can be special ordered. They also carry some vegan and gluten-free items.
Customers say that while Masse always has the crowd pleasers available, he also has a creative flair. In addition to breakfast sandwiches, other sandwiches on the menu include: tomato chutney, cheddar, arugula; curry roasted cauliflower. They even have peanut butter and jelly, so simple, yet rarely found on bakery menus.
The bakery also bakes for a handful of high end restaurants.
“I love our location, I love the space we created,” Masse said. ” I feel like we’re really building something awesome.”
