by PAUL CATALA
Sponsored by Visit Central Florida
It was the fact Jennifer Smurr is Florida born and bred that helped lead to Born + Bread Bakehouse.
A Winter Haven native who grew up in Auburndale, Smurr is the founder and owner of Lakeland’s Born + Bread. Since starting at the Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market then opening a permanent location on South Florida Avenue in the Dixieland neighborhood, B+B has become renowned for its distinctly authentic homemade baked goods. Those feature desserts, pastries, croissants, bagels, and breads.
Other goodies include sandwiches, pies, cookies, tarts, quiche, biscuits, scones, cakes, muffins, sticky buns and other baked items.
Open Wednesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., it’s not uncommon to find patrons queued up along the sidewalk basking in the sweet waft of fresh-baked bread as they wait for a taste.
Smurr opened B+B in 2015, inspired by her trips to Europe and the artisanal, handmade breads she found there. She began by selling cruffins and other baked items at the farmers market before moving into the permanent location.
Over the years, B+B has received several accolades, including being featured in Forbes’ “Next 1000” list, acknowledging successful entrepreneurs.
Smurr, 37, lives near the bakery, giving her convenient access to keep operations flowing for what has become a steadfast and loyal customer base. She says initially she wasn’t completely sure the culinary concept would work in the area.
“When I started it, I was just looking for something I could do that I could love and be passionate about,” she says. “I wanted to do something that I felt like would be meaningful. I started it with the hopes it could be successful, and to be honest, nobody could’ve predicted the trajectory of success we ended up seeing.”
Smurr had spent time working in the fashion industry, was newly married and modeling makeup and fashions for national clients when her honeymoon to Europe ignited her love of fresh bread. When she came back to the States, she began working with recipes she found online which led to some bakery apprenticeships. Those included a three-week stint with Zak Stern, who owns kosher bakery and deli stores in Miami. She also found her way to the ovens of noted bakeries such as the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, known for its use of Old World baking techniques.
Now, Smurr oversees 29 employees in the cafe that once housed a locksmith shop. In 2018, she expanded into an adjacent shop for a total 3,000-square-feet facility.
As a local bakery, Smurr says she tries to source her ingredients as locally as possible. Some of the ingredients sourced from Polk County include edible flowers, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, tomatoes, herbs and “anything that anyone has been able to give us that would be local.”
That drive to serve local flavor and present a “taste of Polk County” to customers earned the bakery a feature in Visit Central Florida’s Culinary Crossroads book.
“I was born in Polk County, born a Floridian, so I try to give a nod to the South.”
“I really love bright citrus, seasonal offerings – anything that’s bright and fresh,” she says. “But really the nod is really to who we are as southern Americans and that influence in the food that we make is very comforting, but it’s a balance of comfort. I’ve had customers say they feel like they’re in their grandmothers’ homes when they’re here.”