On Saturday mornings, many Rhode Island families are hustling and bustling to get in the car and make their way down country roads to do one thing: shop directly from small producers and farmers before the Sold Out sign is posted. In an age of convenience, many flock to small bakery stands to score fresh baked goods, artisan loaves, and a piece of something special. For the makers behind these stands, baking often begins as something deeply personal, whether it is a creative outlet, a family tradition, or a lifelong passion. Somewhere between the early morning bakes and weekend sellouts, their bread becomes part of something larger: the routines, memories, and tables of the communities around them. A bread trail has quietly begun to form in the northern part of Rhode Island; these stands have become more than places to pick up baked goods; they are destinations where traditions are created, connections are made, and friends gather.
For Tess Schofield, owner and operator of The Rhodeside Stand in Cumberland, the day starts far earlier than when her Open sign goes up at 8am. “Be my morning date,” she likes to say to the followers on Instagram and Facebook who tune in to see what she is baking each weekend. While customers make their way to Diamond Hill Road hoping to buy a treat before she sells out, Schofield is busy putting the finishing touches on goods at the stand with help from her daughters.
“I want my girls to see me and know that you can do anything you set your mind to,” Schofield says. A mother of four, her baking journey began as a creative outlet and something she could call her own. “Many moms can relate. Sometimes you lose yourself in motherhood,” she says. “I wanted to take something and make it mine.” So, she turned to flour and yeast to find herself. In the process, she discovered a community of people who loved her baked goods. Now, her stand has become part of many families’ Saturday morning routines; something she takes great pride in. “I like to think that years from now, I’ll be part of people’s stories through my bread and the memories it brought them,” Schofield says. She is known for her sourdough loaves and brown butter chocolate chip cookies, but customers need to arrive early. The Rhodeside Stand sells out every weekend, sometimes shortly after opening. For Schofield, bread is becoming part of memories that have not yet been made.
For Nicholle Fourquet, owner and founder of The Sweet Spot Bakery in Chepachet, it begins with memories she has carried with her for years. After graduating from Johnson and Wales University at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fourquet aimed to enter a culinary world that was difficult to break into. She discovered a passion for food research and development, but after a series of events – the company she worked for closed, and she became a mother – she began to reconsider what she wanted her career and family life to look like. She decided to take her skills into her own hands and open a bakery stand.
Only eight months in, Fourquet is amazed by how quickly customers have embraced her business. She now sells 50 to 60 loaves on a typical weekend and more than 300 cookies, with devotees returning each week for breads, brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and other rotating offerings. “I love making people feel a sense of home and comfort when they try my baked goods,” she says. Fourquet hopes someone will bite into one of her signature cookies and immediately feel nostalgic, like they are tasting something their grandmother once made. “Every bite tells a story,” says Fourquet, who draws much of her inspiration from her Italian and Puerto Rican grandmothers. Both instilled in her the importance of family, tradition, and gathering around a table. Those memories now shape the food she creates and the experiences she hopes to share with others.
In the Burrillville village of Mapleville, four siblings have joined forces to build a farm that has become a community staple. From fresh vegetables and seasonal events to the popular weekend bake shop, Mapleville Farm has become a destination that brings folks together throughout the year. The bakery’s success can be credited largely to Ben Ryan, the baker of the bunch. “I always knew I wanted to be a baker,” says Ryan, who has been whipping up tasty goods since childhood. When his parents opened a small bakery in Pascoag in the early 2000s, they named it Ben’s Bakery after their son and his passion.
Ryan began by delivering loaves by bicycle to neighbors and baking anywhere he could, including local bakeries, while traveling with his family. Today, he helps operate the 25-acre farm alongside his brother Mike and sisters Casey Cassano and Emma Echt, but his passion for baking has remained. “I love working with my hands,” says Ryan, who also enjoys becoming part of people’s routines. Customers return for fresh focaccia and seasonal offerings inspired by what is growing on the farm, including herb breads, blueberry loaves, and the popular butternut squash bread in fall. Announcements are made in advance for highly anticipated and popular Croissant Sundays, and Breadbox Sessions: eight-week subscriptions for scratch-made bread. Recent varieties included blueberry bread in July, caramelized onion and focaccia in August, and the final summer drop, September’s jalapeño cheddar sourdough. “So many regulars come every weekend, and it is nice to be a part of that.”
The stands run on the self-serve “honor” system, so there is generally no staff, so bring cash (and don’t expect change) or research the accepted payment method for each stand (Venmo and PayPal are popular apps to use; simply download and connect to a bank account or credit card). Hours vary, and some are only available on weekends or are seasonal, so please check each seller’s social accounts and/or websites for updates.
♥ = Featured in this article
The Bread Barn:
Angel Lane, North Scituate
@thebreadbarn.ri
Flourstorm Bakery:
Available at Goodwin Brothers, North Smithfield
@flourstormbakery
Freedom Farm:
397 Chestnut Hill Road, Chepachet
@freedom_farm_ri
♥ Mapleville Farm:
544 Victory Highway, Mapleville
@maplevillefarm
♥ The Rhodeside Stand:
4418 Diamond Hill Road, Cumberland
@therhodesidestand
Sasha’s Homemade:
420 Chestnut Hill Road, Chepachet
Also available at The Farm in RI 463B Tourtellot Hill Road, Glocester
SashasHomemade.com
TheFarminRI.com
Serenity Sourdough Bakery:
243 Matteson Road, Hope
@serenity_sourdough_bakery
♥ The Sweet Spot Bakery:
1402 Putnam Pike, Chepachet
Friday-Sunday 9am-7pm
Instagram @thesweetspot_bakery30
–Compiled by Casey Cassano, Emma Echt, and Elyse Major.
If we missed your fave, please let us know at Elyse@HeyRhody.com.
A beloved tradition of bread continues in southern Rhode Island
Rhode Island is an ocean of secrets, or open secrets anyway, and among them is Daddy’s Bread in Matunuck. For more than 50 years, beach-goers have passed by the brown bread-shaped sign hanging from a wooden post wrapped in faux flowers, but for those who know to stop and follow the driveway to park and approach the boardwalk, a small cottage filled with glorious loaves and more await. The self-serve bakery began as a hobby in 1975 by Everett J. Hopkins: educator by day, and watercress cultivator, artist, and baker by night – or after-school anyway. For years now, his daughter Jennifer Hopkins Manzo has been at the helm, keeping the sweet-and-savory tradition going. Inside, along with wire racks of signature loaves, is a table covered with notes from patrons: love letters to simplicity, quality, tradition, and trust. 808 Moonstone Beach Road, South Kingstown; Instagram: @daddysbread. –Elyse Major
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