Bridgette Fink stands in the kitchen of her strorefront on West Seventh Street in St. Paul where she bakes bread that she sells at farmers markets. Nearby is a mattress where she sleeps. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
“Welcome to the space that will be the House of Bread,” said Bridgette Fink, standing in a small, empty storefront in the West Seventh neighborhood of St. Paul.
Behind her stood a room with old hardwood floors and two ancient industrial ovens. A long stainless-steel counter stretched out in front of her, which looked hungry for hands to knead dough on its gleaming surface. Her mattress lay on the floor nearby.
Overlooking it all was a huge painting of our Lady of Guadalupe — whose friendship, Fink said, inspired her to make a leap of faith to begin her own bread-baking business.
Fink — a joyful 24-year-old — grew up in a Catholic family of six in St. Louis Park, where she was home-schooled while attending Holy Family parish. When she headed to the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, she intended to pursue a career in the sciences. Before she graduated in 2020, her major initially oscillated between biology, radiology and respiratory therapy.
Although the desire to own a bakery has been on Fink’s heart since childhood, she had put the idea out of her mind to pursue a stable career. But throughout college, God continually reminded her of her desire to serve other people through food.
“It was the Holy Spirit just giving me little consolations for a very long, extended period of time, even up until this moment,” Fink said.
Bridgette Fink, right, helps customers at the St. Paul Farmers Market in downtown St. Paul where she sells bread on Saturdays. Helping her with sales is her sister, Grace, rear left. Both belong to Our Lady of Grace in Edina. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
One such instance was when she baked cinnamon rolls for her coworkers one summer in college. The joy with which they received the baked goods left a lasting mark on her.
“In that moment, the Holy Spirit really gave me this consolation of a mission, that is part of my mission, to serve food. It was so particular,” Fink said.
But, the idea of baking as a career still seemed like a remote possibility. While anxiously awaiting her acceptance email into a respiratory therapy program, she went to a Marian grotto to pray. It was there, Fink said, when “this entire ‘Plan B’ came to my mind: I’m going to do philosophy and start a bakery.”
For the first time, the idea of the bakery seemed like a real possibility.
“That was another instance of God just revealing to me my heart,” Fink said. She had been captivated by her philosophy classes, and when she ultimately chose to pursue a degree in philosophy, she said that it was “a commitment to my heart.”
Fink said that the modern dialogue that encourages one to “follow your heart” has a glimmer of truth in it — God places hopes and desires on people’s heart that indicate their vocation.
“But it’s not just like, ‘Do whatever you want.’ It is, ‘Be faithful to what God has put on your heart,’” Fink said.
Immediately after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Fink began teaching at Holy Family Catholic School. She loved the environment, as well as having a stable income, but said that she could not shake the sense that she was being unfaithful to the desires that God had put on her heart.
A statue of St. Pope John Paul Il stood in the back of her classroom, and she felt as if the statue stared at her as she taught. Whenever she caught John Paul II’s glance, it was a reminder of the pontiff’s motto to “be not afraid,” which reminded her of her dream of opening a bakery. In November 2020, she took the leap of faith to begin her business.
During this time, she often thought of St. Peter walking on water toward Christ, and realizing that there was no turning back to the boat. For Fink, the decision to leave her job and begin her business was an act of complete reliance on Christ.
“Doing House of Bread on my own is worthless. … I know that’s kind of strong, but it really is worthless unless Christ is with you in it,” she said.
She left her teaching job after a semester and began baking and selling bread to friends, coworkers and neighbors. She secured a cottage license which allowed her to sell her bread at the Minneapolis farmers market over the summer. In the fall, she began a bread subscription service and delivered bread to a small handful of subscribers on a weekly basis.
A sample of Fink’s bread for sale at the farmers market in downtown St. Paul. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
But in the winter months of 2021, without the income from the farmers markets, her bread profits were not enough to sustain herself financially. When a position for a temporary secretary at Our Lady of Grace in Edina opened, she accepted it.
In early 2022, Fink heard about a storefront for sale next to the Schmidt brewery building in St. Paul. Given her limited budget, she was not hopeful about being able to purchase it, but she decided to look at it nonetheless.
To her surprise, the owner accepted her offer.
“Really?” Fink had responded when her offer was accepted. “It was just another undeserved gift,” she later reflected.
But the space still needed ovens. At the time, Fink was using her parents’ kitchen to bake.
“My plan was to ask Mary for them, and Mary would provide — and she did,” Fink said.
Holy Family parish remodeled its kitchen in the spring of 2022 and offered the old ovens to Fink.
Over the next two years, Fink plans to remodel the space into a restaurant that could offer upscale pub food as well as bread and coffee, with the goal of opening in 2024.
In the same way that Mary is a bridge to Christ, “I see this place as a bridge to the Catholic Church and God, ultimately, but something that is approachable for the everyday person who will walk in because they want good food,” Fink said.
Fink said she hopes to have art in the space that will provide all customers, regardless of belief, with an experience of truth and beauty.
Fink said the story of St. Isaac Jogues, a French Jesuit who ministered to Native Americans, inspired her to share the truths of the faith in a way that non-Catholics can receive.
“The Jesuits had to learn the Native’s world and enter it on their terms. I think it is an amazing witness to how you have to understand people and persons and be able to offer truth in a way that they are going to receive it,” Fink said.
Fink imagines a space that would be open for all meals and offer an energetic, inviting environment with live music in the evenings.
Her business and future restaurant’s name, House of Bread, encapsulates its mission.
“I named it after Mary, because she is the house of bread — she housed Christ — but also for Bethlehem,” Fink said. Bethlehem means “house of bread” in Hebrew. The name, Fink said, “was Christ revealing that this will be a place to encounter Bethlehem: Jesus, Joseph and Mary.
Cecilia Nicklaus, who roomed with Fink in college, said Fink intends to “create a space for conversations that fill the person.”
In their friendship, Nicklaus said that she has experienced how Fink’s love for God through the Blessed Virgin Mary seems to effuse into those around her.
“Bridgette runs to Mary,” she said, “she really does listen to the Lord and follow him in radical ways.”
Fink’s current baking routine will prepare her for a demanding restaurant schedule. On days before she sells bread at one of two St. Paul Farmers Markets, Fink rises at 5 a.m. and bakes until 11 p.m. The next day, she gets up at 4 a.m. to bake sandwich bread and sourdough sweet rolls before a full day of selling her products, which include chocolate sourdough, chocolate babka sweet rolls and — her personal favorite — jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread. She starts selling bread at the farmers market in downtown St. Paul at 7 a.m. every Saturday, and most of her loaves, cookies and rolls are gone within the first four hours. Her sister Grace helps out; both are parishioners of Our Lady of Grace.
Fink said the labor that she invests in baking can be sanctifying, and she related her work to the way in which Catholics can approach Christ in the Eucharist.
“Our entire lives are an extension of the Mass,” Fink said. “This bread I am making is also an offering to Christ through Mary.”
David Clynes, a longtime friend and neighbor to the Fink family, said that Fink’s faith shines through her bread baking. He was the first person ever to purchase a loaf of bread from her.
“She is guided by her faith,” Clynes said, “very talented, very talented. She got a degree in philosophy and then could change the differential on a Suburban.”
When Clynes heard about her ambitions to sell bread, he purchased many loaves from her and carted them around the neighborhood to spread the word about her business.
“The bread she makes is wonderful, and I don’t think she charges enough for it,” Clynes said.
He often purchases her whole-wheat sourdough, but he says that her sweet rolls are delectable.
“Everything that she makes is incredible,” he said. “I call her ‘Bridgette Betty Crocker Fink.’”
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