Lindsay Marie Morris

Among his fondest memories of growing up in Viagrande, Sicily, Carlo Raciti remembers days he stayed home sick from school. He'd step into his family kitchen and roll out fresh pasta or bake cookies to surprise his mother, Caterina Scuderi, when she came home from teaching. 

"I was always involved with flour and dough," Carlo recalls. "That was my passion. That's what I was supposed to do."

 

But his father, Mario Raciti, who had grown up in the bakery business, suggested otherwise. 

 

"He always told me it was too hard," Carlo says. "He said, 'Don't do it. It's too much sacrifice, and it's very little gain.'"

 

So, instead, Carlo pursued a common Sicilian career path: tourism and hospitality. He did just about everything from cooking and the front of the house to hotel management.

 

It was overwhelming and led him to drop everything and take a long vacation to Miami. There, he'd meet his wife, Rebecca Bechara, and get an invitation that would eventually lead him back to his childhood passion and opening Almotti, Miami's first dedicated gluten-free bakery, which sells cookies, pastries, celebratory cakes, and bread with nationwide shipping.

 

Carlo and I chatted about his influences, career pivot, why he's embraced gluten-free baking, advice for other entrepreneurs, and more. 

 

 

How did your family influence your passion for baking and pastry arts?

My grandma started baking bread during the war while my grandpa was stationed in North Africa. She had to feed a big family, so she started baking bread in their backyard in Acireale. They had a brick oven, and that's how everything started.

 

They opened a retail bakery, making bread, and all the family baked there. My dad is the smallest of the five kids. He helped a lot and made the bakery deliveries on his bicycle.

 

After many years, my uncle opened Panificio Raciti in Acireale, which is still there. My cousin now runs it.

 

During the summertime, when there was no school, there was no one at home to take care of me. So, since I was six, my parents used to drop me off at the Panificio at 6:00 AM. I spent those days sitting in a little chair watching my Zio Tanino with my cousin Marcello and another assistant making the bread. And that's where my passion really came in: spending that time inside the Panificio. And that's influenced me 100% for my future and career today.

 

Mario Raciti (left) grew up making deliveries for his mother's bakery, a business that inspired Carlo to pursue pastry arts.

 

How and why did you pivot to becoming a pastry chef?

I was working in hospitality back in Italy when I left my job. I decided to take a vacation with friends, and we ended up in Miami for three months. Then, I met my wife.

 

I went back to Italy for a year and then returned by myself. During those three months in Miami, I had done a lot of cooking. A friend of mine, through my wife, said, "When you come back, we'll do a catering company, and you're going to run it, or you're going to be the chef."

 

So when I came back, we developed the plan and launched a Sicilian-style catering company. That was right before the crash in 2008.

 

Besides catering, I collaborated with an Italian association called Society Dante Alighieri, which is worldwide. They hired me to teach cooking and baking classes for Italians and Americans. Since they were learning Italian, I taught these baking classes in Italian. In the meantime, I started doing a bunch of catering and events.

 

My wife and I wanted to start a business—a bakery. That was the idea. So, in 2009, we moved to Italy and took a sabbatical there. I then returned to school to get my certification in pastry because culinary is very wide. So, I wanted to specialize.

During that year, I worked in a few bakeries, where I learned many techniques. I took different courses throughout the year with World Champion Pastry Chef Roberto Lestani and Pastry Chef Carmelo Recupero, among others. In Catania, I worked for Pasticceria Quaranta, one of the top bakeries today.  

Then, I worked alongside Giuseppe Giangreco, the master baker of the product I started making: pasta di mandorla, the almond pastry cookie that's made us so popular.

 

Carlo Raciti started selling at a farmers market. He now ships nationwide.

 

Why did you decide to focus on the gluten-free market?

These are almond-based cookies, so they are naturally gluten-free. When we returned to Miami after a year in Italy, we developed our plan to open a retail bakery.

 

Looking for places was very challenging. There was no Italian bakery in Miami. My wife said, "Pick the six easiest items," and those were cookies. We decided to sell at the farmers market. It was a $500 investment, and we sold out in about two hours.

 

Three months later, we were doing five farmers markets all over Miami. We never went back to the original plan or made a retail bakery because we saw the opportunity to eventually become a wholesaler with our gluten-free product.

 

Making it gluten-free was a business decision. I'm very attached to the community where I live, and I had feedback from people that there weren't enough gluten-free options.

 

We moved into a facility seven years ago, and I said, "We'll convert it 100% and do it the right way so there is no cross-contamination."

 

We became the first dedicated gluten-free bakery in Miami and South Florida in general. As we built up a clientele over the years, I started hearing the story about people getting sick with Celiac disease and so on. My daughter Lucia was dairy-intolerant when she was younger. Personally, I had a rash from eating too many processed products that contained gluten. And I realized that it was better for our clients and the community.

 

Many people say, "You're Italian. Why are you making gluten-free?" But this is the reason. 

 

Carlo Raciti rolling dough with daughter, Lucia.

What advice would you give budding bakery owners?

Definitely get some experience, at least two to three years working in a bakery, first to understand if it's something that isn't for you.

 

If that person is going to be a baker like me, hands-on in the operation, they need to have the passion to do it because the amount of hours going through it can be very overwhelming. 

It is very important with any profession that whatever you do, you do it with passion and love because you spend so much time that if you do not enjoy it, then it could be very challenging. 

 

What are your future plans?

We're going on 10 years, and we're looking to grow. Going national has always been our dream. I know it's very hard. It's been very challenging because taking a high-quality artisanal product to a national scale where your margin is very small almost makes it impossible. But little by little, we will.

 

We are looking at 2025 as the year to be part of a national show where we can expose our product.

 

The business is our third baby; we have two kids and don't have family around, so this has been very challenging for us. Taking care of the kids has been our first priority. And then the business. But now my son, Mario Carlo, is 13; my daughter, Lucia, will be nine pretty soon. So we can dedicate a little bit more time to the business.

 

 
A younger Mario Carlo helping his father

What do you hope to share with customers?

Because we ship nationwide, people all over the nation have the opportunity to try my products. They connect to my childhood back in Italy, and customers can experience going to an Italian bakery because our packaging is clear, where you can see through and choose the cookie you want. They may want a cookie that is a little bit more well-done or less done. So, you can choose, and it's like taking a trip to Italy, where people have a product that is clean with only a few ingredients, very high quality, made by hand. They can see that every single bite is different. And then they realize that it's not just the business, it's not just making money, it's sharing a culture that goes over hundreds of years. The main cookie that we do goes back to the Greeks. So it's a tradition, it's cultural, and we want this to continue. 



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Opened in 1996 by the late Giovanni and Carolina Scordato, Scordato Bakery is one of the few Milwaukee bakeries serving specialties like Sicilian cookies, cannoli, bread, and sfinciuni. 

But it wasn't always that way.

"When we first opened the bakery, there were so many Italian bakeries," says Scordato Bakery Vice President Antonella Scordato-Lorenz. "Now, there are hardly any left. It is hard work, and it's not easy. So, I'm not surprised that there are not a ton of traditional bakeries left in Milwaukee, but we are proud that we're one of them."

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Antonella and her brother, Alessandro Scordato, who serves as the bakery's president. The siblings shared their background, what goes into a typical day at Scordato, their favorite menu items, ways they ensure authenticity, advice for those interested in running a bakery, and more. 

 

Your family is from Sicily. Tell us how Scordato got its start in Milwaukee.

Alessandro: Our parents married in Bagheria. Our dad came first in his early twenties. He started working at his uncle's bakery, Peter Sciortino Bakery. Our mom came a few years later, and they were here until 1980. We moved back to Italy for a few years, between 1985 and 1987. But they decided to move back to Milwaukee, and our dad and his friend decided to open up their own bakery called Roma Bakery in the Bay View neighborhood.

They had that for a few years. Then, our dad sold his partnership to his partner, Sal, and decided to open his own place with our mom in 1996. That's how we ended up with Scordato Bakery at our current location. We've been there ever since. 

 

Antonella Scordato-Lorenz and Alessandro Scordato

What kind of influence did your Sicilian upbringing have on you?

Antonella: I think it was just more about our parents' work ethic than anything. I guess it's just making sure we're keeping the tradition alive and keeping the roots of the types of things that we grew up with, the pastries, food, and things like that.

 

Tell us about your experience taking over the bakery in 2019.

Antonella: Our mom passed away in 2000, and then it was the three of us, my brother and I, with our dad. My brother's son, Giovanni, came to work at the bakery when he was old enough, and later, our stepmom, Irina, joined us. Our dad kind of retired even though he was there almost every day. 

It was hard to keep him at home. He worked his whole life and enjoyed what he did, speaking to customers and having a presence in the store. And he lived just a few blocks away, so he was never the type to just stay at home and watch TV. He was always hands-on. 

Alessandro: Before our dad actually got sick, his body was starting to age, telling him, "No," but he still wanted to be there. So he would come in, not work as much as he did before, but he was around. But my sister and I took over.

We worked there pretty much our whole lives, and I did some other work when I was a teenager, but I always helped out in the store, so I got used to the hours and the work and everything little by little. Over time, it was just part of both of our lives, so it wasn't that difficult. 

Our dad was always there to point us in the right direction if need be. So, once he was gone, I think our main focus was always to maintain the work ethic he instilled in us, keep quality a top priority, and just keep the legacy going. And it felt good to be able to do that and keep going in that direction.

Antonella: After he passed in 2019, it was almost like it lit a fire under us. I remember that for years, our dad always talked about how we should remodel the store and make improvements to the business. And we're just like, "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Then, after he passed, both of us decided we were going to remodel the store. We're going to not reinvent things because we wanted to keep everything the same, but it was really nice just to kind of execute that vision that he had of redoing the store and making it look so much nicer. And it actually really helped grow our business even more, which was crazy how much just remodeling the store would've made a difference. But we've just been busy and steady ever since with just our regular customers.

Alessandro: We have a really good customer base. They're really loyal, and they've always supported us year after year, so they've been a big part of our success.

 

What's a typical day at Scordato Bakery?

Alessandro: I start around one or two in the morning and do all the bread and roll orders for the store and delivery.

Antonella: We have the wholesale accounts that we bake for and different restaurants in the area, and then we have to make bread and rolls for the store, of course. 

Alessandro: After that, I just start on whatever cookies we need to make for that day and other items like banana bread or pizza crust or calzone, stuff like that. So I get done around 11. Then, my sister works in the afternoon, and she closes and takes care of any cakes or other pastries.

Antonella: We do a lot of weddings, especially in the summer and September into the fall. We do a lot of sweet tables, wedding cakes, and regular cakes. Those are things that I take care of along with the hiring and payroll. We do the inventory, making sure everything is stocked.

We're really lucky. We have really great employees. We're so lucky to have so many of our employees with us for over two decades. We're in a really good community. We're more like a close family.

 

Alessandro: The work is ongoing; it never stops. You never really get to punch out when you run your own business. So if we're not at the bakery, we're going to Sam's Club or getting inventory or Restaurant Depot. There are always certain things to take care of other than at the bakery. So it keeps us busy.

Antonella: Our busiest time of year is the holidays and then a little bit into January. So we try to close for a week or so sometime in January when we're finally caught up, and things are slowing down so we can give everybody a well-deserved break. 

Next year, we'll be closed for two weeks in the summer so we can spend some time with our family in Sicily. It's really hard for either of us to get away unless the bakery's actually closed. It's not like a company where we can just punch out, and I can't relax or even think about enjoying a vacation if the store's open. So it's like we've got to close in order to relax and enjoy ourselves.

 

Scordato cookies are a holiday favorite.

What are your favorite items on the bakery's menu and why?

Antonella: I still obsess over cookies, especially the more traditional ones like the tutu and the Sicilian rainbow cookies. Our cannoli, especially the chocolate, are always so good. 

Alessandro: We'll always have cannoli when we're feeling a little nostalgic or homesick for Sicily.

 

Antonella: Or the sfinciuni; I still eat that on the regular. We make it every day. We'll just cut it up and put it in the back so everybody can munch on it. 

When we're on vacation and closed, I always miss our bread and rolls. You won't be able to find that nice crispy bread that we have. I look forward to coming back, making another batch, and having a nice hot sandwich on bread right out of the oven.

 

Alessandro: One of my favorites is what our dad used to do: a mini Italian loaf right out of the oven, still hot. You just slice it down the middle. You add some extra virgin olive oil, some Romano cheese, and maybe a little bit of tomato. I eat it right out of the oven, and the texture when you first bite it, with that crispiness on the crust, is just one of a kind.

 

Tell us more about your sfinciuni.

Antonella: It's a traditional sfinciuni outside of the fact that the one we make for the store doesn't have anchovies. We make it without anchovies because it's not as popular here. 

Ours has a traditional thick, spongy crust. It has tomato sauce, oregano, grated Romano cheese, and spices. It's just like a meatless room-temperature pizza. 

We do make it with anchovies on order, but we don't typically sell it in the store. Even though it's traditional, it's not as popular that way.

 

Alessandro: It's a tradition in Sicily. Each family makes its own sauce with caramelized onions. Some people use the traditional primo sale cheese.

Antonella: It's what you put into the dough before you bake it in the oven. Before you put your sauce on, you make the dough, you lay it out, and then you push the primo sale into the dough. We don't make it that way for the store because it's expensive and hard to find here.

Alessandro: We've had to change it up a little bit. But the way that we make it turns out really good, especially with the Romano cheese mixed in with the breadcrumbs and the olive oil on top. 

I prefer it the day after in the toaster oven, or I just throw a slice from the day before directly on the oven shelf and crisp it up. It gets this really nice crunchy taste on the outside, but it still has that sponginess on the inside.

We don't use pizza dough; we use bread dough, and that's the only way you can get that really thick spongy size on the crust. If you use regular pizza dough, then you're just going to end up with a thinner, denser crust. So if you want that nice, thick kind of pan style, you use the bread dough. 

 

How do you ensure the authenticity of your Sicilian recipes?

Alessandro: We use simple ingredients in all of our products, especially the cookies and the bread. We don't use preservatives. Our dad always tried to keep the same recipe from Sicily that he grew up with, and our uncle taught him that. "Keep it the same. Don't do anything fancy; just keep it original."

It shows, and it makes a difference in the taste. Quality has always been our number one priority, and we ensure that the process stays the same and that the steps from start to finish remain the same every time we do something. That's helped us stay well-known with all of our customers.

Antonella: Whenever we go to Sicily, we'll bring back ingredients that we need. We get our anise oil, which we use for anise cookies. 

We try to make sure we don't ever change anything or compromise just to save a few pennies. There are cheaper ways that we can do things, but that's really not how our dad did it.

Alessandro: One example is the butter. We always emphasize using a hundred percent butter. Some places do a half-and-half, half margarine and half butter. You can taste the oily difference. Things like that compromise the product, and we don't want to go down that route.

 

Antonella: Even when we make our cannoli cream…. I've seen recipes that are just cheap cream cheese. We use simple ricotta and sugar and chocolate chips. We make everything the way our dad did. We're not trying to save a few pennies.

 

You're also known for your cakes. Can you share a memorable cake order?

Antonella: One that stands out was one of my very first wedding cakes. We've been making cakes for a long time, but this one was probably one of my favorites. It was one of those ones where when you're done with it, you step back and really admire it.

It's one of our most duplicated cakes; brides will come in, see it, and want that exact same one. It's a three-tiered cake with calla lilies that are cascading down. It's simple. There's not much to it outside of the beautiful calla lilies, but it's just one of those cakes that is just really memorable. 

Then there was one other cake that I made… I don't remember the cake at all, but it sticks in my mind because as I was finishing it, the bride showed up. I was still putting it together, and she started crying because she was so happy about it. 

I don't remember what the cake looked like at all. I don't even know if I still have a picture of it, but I just felt the emotion of her being so overjoyed.

 

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own bakery or pursue a career in baking?

Antonella: Find a good staff, find good people that you can rely on. We wouldn't be able to do any of the things we do without our staff. 

Alessandro: It's kind of a load off knowing that we can rely on them when needed. So that helps out a lot when you can trust your employees to take the next step whenever you need them to.

Antonella: Alessandro's son, Giovanni, who was named after our father, works at the bakery, and he's an incredible help. He is such a hard worker, and he definitely helps with a ton of things: a lot of what our mom showed me how to do, like our lasagna that we make on weekends or different things, like our homemade sauce and meatballs that I used to make. 

Now, I spend most of my time just making cakes and pastries, and he's able to pick up that tradition and help me with those types of things, and he's great at it. So, it's great to have him be a part of our bakery and our legacy and help us.

You have to get good employees that you can trust and rely on, and you have to make sure that you're willing to give the best customer service and always put that first. I feel like that's so important. Every time I see another good review, another five-star review on Google, I'm just like, "Well, they were impressed with our customer service." I feel like that's so important nowadays. 

Alessandro: It's hard to go into a place and actually talk to the owner or someone that's part of the business. Our dad said, "It's easy to open up a business. It's difficult to keep it successful year after year after year." 

It takes a lot of work, dedication, and sacrifice, and you have to focus on these things. Otherwise, you won't be successful.

Antonella: You're always kind of on call if something happens; it kind of never ends. You have got to be willing to part with time and be as dedicated as possible.

 

What do you hope customers will take away?

Alessandro: I'm hoping that whoever reads this understands that we're a small family business, and we hope that they appreciate all the hard work and the products that we've put out. It's difficult to find local businesses nowadays. We hope to continue the tradition for another 30 years, hopefully, and God willing. We're happy with what we do, and we're hoping to continue the legacy of our parents.

 

 

 

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