When I approached Panorama Bakery, located on Florida street in the mission this past tuesday the first thought that crossed my mind was, “where is the door into this massive place”. I knew we were obviously at the right bakery, but I was a bit concerned as to where the entrance was. However, over the course of the tour that we took inside of the bakery, I came to appreciate and accept the vast size of the bakery. After seeing the intricate process that goes into making bread, my frustration had melted away and I was left with a feeling of awe and excitement when touring around.
What caught my attention most about the bakery is how passionate all of the people who work behind the scenes are. Panorama Bakery is extremely popular and present in the food industry, with over 400 accounts with restaurants and a weekly sale of 2200 loaves of bread, the bakery is extremely successful. Even though this kind of success is extremely impressive, what impressed me the most was the dedication and persistency, that still lies behind the products. It is so easy for a restaurant or a bakery for this matter, to get caught up in sales, status, presentation, etc. However Panorama Bakery had the feeling of an old fashion bakery, and the dedication workers applied to the process of making the bread, demonstrated how there really is no price to this kind of dedication.
Two things caught my attention while touring inside the bakery; the diverse selection of breads, and the machinery responsible for the production of the bread.
Inside the bakery as I rounded corners and walked through doors, I not only picked up on the delicious smell of fresh made bread; my eyes continuously captured the endless racks where the bread was stored. Bread types included, wheat, sourdough, rusticana, and focaccia bread. In addition to the breads I saw, I learned that the bakery produces hotdog buns, hamburger buns, and pizza dough.
Many helping hands go into the production of the various types of bread, both by hand and machine. One of the machines which is referred to as simply, “the bread molding machine”, was a impressive machine made up of many different parts and steps that were all responsible for shaping the bread. To go along with the bread molding machine were the multitude of ovens which all had to be constantly watched by one worker. This crucial task can be considered a heavy responsibility on the one worker who must remember which bread is in which oven, as to make sure the different types of bread don’t burn.
Although Panorama Bakery is known for its delicious breads and well known clientel, the bakery can aslo be commended on the detailed process that goes on behind the scenes. That process serves as the function, organization, and passion of making the bread.
