Uppercrust would not be the bakery it is without the community that supports it. Click on the links below to learn about our friends:
Bite Plate Productions
Kelly, veterinarian by day, and superhero-photographer by night (or, any time she has available), took most of the photographs for this website. Already an ardent fan of our products, she offered to not only purchase but also take photographs of our wares. We insisted on free samples pretty quickly; she has a knack for capturing our products’ natural beauty. We are just smitten by all aspects of our partnership.
Bread of the Mighty
19.8% of residents in Alachua County are food insecure, or, simply put, do not know where they will get their next meal. Bread of the Mighty is a non-profit food bank that collects, sorts and distributes donated food to food pantries, churches and homeless shelters in Gainesville. They do good work.
Chef Bert Gill
Chef Gill is one of Gainesville’s first and most vocal supporters of the local food economy. His restaurants, Blue Gill, Mildred’s and New Deal Cafe are three of Gainesville’s finest. He also happened to give Ben his first kitchen job. Ben was a terrible employee: too much mayonnaise in the tuna salad; roasted red peppers with seeds left in; never enough washed lettuce for salads; really, really slow; and opinionated besides. It’s a testament to Chef Gill’s generosity that he’s been a supporter all these years.
Chef Dean Cacciatore
Chef Cacciatore’s Cacciatore Catering is the premier catering service for the University of Florida. Catering is not easy, and Chef Cacciatore pulls it off with uncommon grace and kindness. It explains his employees who have stayed with him for decades – and his many, many happy clients.
Also, his two sons are extraordinary tennis players. They are on the UF Men’s Tennis Team and started beating Ben pretty badly when they were sixteen (okay, maybe fifteen). Go Gators!
Cheney Brothers
Finding good broadline food distribution is a fraught but essential business for nearly all, ahem, “food service establishments.” Cheney Brothers Inc., is a privately-held Florida family business. Their offices and warehouses are utilitarian, and their resources go toward the quality, availability and breadth of their products. Our rep, Mike, has also paid out of his pocket the few times we’ve had an order issue, and personally delivers items when we’re accidentally shorted. This rarely happens, and he schleps up to and back from Ocala to do so.
Concord Coffee
Uppercrust both supplies to and purchases from Concord Coffee. They roast nuanced, gem-like single origin coffees for our drip coffee and espresso. Their Gainesville location is located inside the Gator Wesley Foundation building. The stunning, airy space is a perfect exhalation. Have a pour over, a pain au chocolat, and tell them we sent you.
Doxa Coffee Co.
DOXA is a third-wave coffee shop in Alachua. It is a beautiful space, with drinks that match the consideration we put into the baked goods they serve from us.
Fruit of the Boot
Andrea Tosolini is the owner of Fruit of the Boot, a local Italian imports company. When we’re having a rough day, the warm “Ciao! Ciao! Ciao! Bene, bene, bene,” that arrives with his goods restore us unfailingly. The super special bronze die extruded pastas Uppercrust has available are Andrea’s, as are many of our jams, coffees and chocolates. And his balsamics. Goodness. Decades-old wonders.
Good Luck Sock
Socks are having a moment right now. We’re doing our part to extend their moment with our friends at Good Luck Sock. For the days when a plain sock just won’t do.
Harvey’s Tomatoes
Harvey’s Tomatoes is *the only* local source for wholesale non-heirloom tomatoes grown the right way (i.e., ripened naturally, without the “aid” of ethylene gas). Their beefsteaks maintain structural integrity through slicing and roasting. And they deliver right to your door! This is a special family-owned company, and Uppercrust couldn’t be more grateful for them.
Jellycat
Bakeries and… stuffed animals? Yep. It works. These are special stuffed animals.
JF Wine Imports
Jean-Francois (JF) is our wine secret weapon. He himself goes to single-estate vineyards (mostly in France, of course!), and develops decades-long relationships with them. These are wholly unique contacts, and JF becomes their sole distributor to the US through him. Gems, all.
King Arthur Flour
King Arthur Flour is the pre-eminent flour mill and distributor in the country. Their flours are consistent and taste of wheat.
Mark and Steve from Leonardo’s 706
Mark and Steve exhibit the kind of easy comfort that can only come from knowing, deep down, how to make people happy at a restaurant. They’re riotously funny, and generous with their time and hospitality. True elder statesmen of Gainesville’s food and beverage scene, whose influence has been and will be felt long past the closing of their landmark 706.
Mincing Mockingbird
It turns out that all subversive messages need to change from controversial to funny is for a bird or a cat to say them. Our strange little bakery’s sense of humor lives largely through their magnets, located on our registers.
Opici
Opici is a family-run wine distributor based along the Eastern seaboard. Their portfolio includes bottles from every major wine-producing region, and their selections bring great breadth to our list.
Opus Coffee
Uppercrust is proud to be a partner with the Opus’ Gainesville coffee empire. Its owners, Bret and Tim Larson, are two wonderful human beings, and humored Ben’s incessant questions when Uppercrust was developing our espresso program. To this day, they personally deliver beans and their famous Nitro Cold Brew when we need restocking. Uppercrust provides special savory baked goods to Opus’ Innovation Square location for their Savory Sunday menu.
The UF IFAS Meat Extension
UF’s Agricultural Sciences school has a meat market from 9am to 5pm every Friday. From field to store, each step of the process is cared for by future industry leaders. Uppercrust has the distinct pleasure of using their bacon for quiches, and ham when it’s available!
Pascal’s Coffeehouse
Pascal’s achieves the kind of hunker-down comfort coffeehouse dreams are made of. And they care. The containers we use to transport our pastries to the shop are cleaned consistently and thoroughly before returning them to us. It is no surprise that they are intentional with coffee and the warmth with which they serve – a delight just across the street from UF main campus.
Plugra Butter
Uppercrust uses Plugra butter for all our pastries, enriched doughs and croissants. Plugra is a European-style churned butter based in Kansas City, Kansas. It is dense and consistent. It’s awesome.
Rainbow Produce
Rainbow is a local fruit and vegetable supplier located just a little past Satchel’s. Visit the warehouse Monday-Saturday and support a great local business that spends nearly all its resources on the products themselves.
Rifle Paper Co.
Uppercrust knows to keep a ready and vast supply of Rifle Paper Co.’s fun and understated cards at all times. At. All. Times.
Saporito
Uppercrust is fortunate to feature our across-the-street neighbor’s remarkable extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamics. As is usually the case for Uppercrust, if it’s a fine, artisan product, we want it. We can approximate an explanation of polyphenol content and dimensions of flavor. But for the real thing, really, do yourself a favor and go to the source. Saporito is just across the street from our plaza, and is a true blue family business.
Terroir Wine Group
Terroir is a Tampa-based wine distributor that sells wine now to 30 states. That’s not why it’s special to us, though. It’s special because their wine rep with us is Mike. Mike’s awesome. A straight shooter who tells you when something isn’t good, Mike has helped us find more than a few firecrackers.
Wainwright Dairy
We have our very own milk man! Carl comes every Wednesday between 10-11am. We use his cows’ milk for as much as will fit in our refrigerators each week: espresso beverages, pastry cream, challah, and croissant doughs all benefit from their sweet flavor and creamy texture.
Winebow
Winebow is a national wine distributor, and Hollie Pigue is our representative. Ever patient and good-natured, John’s has an unofficial standing 3pm phone appointment with Hollie to order whatever wines from Winebow have been purchased from our shelves. Winebow is one of our larger distributors, and their compendious wine list allows us to provide delicious wines across a spectrum of regions and styles.