New bakery fills a need on Main Street

Bread from Heaven offers tasty treats

TORRINGTON — The foot traffic near the corner of East Pearl and Main streets has picked up considerably this month.

One likely reason is the opening of the Bread From Heaven Bakery at 266 Main St. During a recent lunch hour, customers were six deep at the counter.

Ivetteliz Cotto owns the bakery and her husband, Jose, is on hand when the bakery gets busy. They held their grand opening celebration on June 9 with a crowd of well-wishers, including Mayor Elinor Carbone.

Customer favorites are Cuban sandwiches, which are made with pork, Swiss cheese, ham, mustard and pickles and the Mi Cielo (or, “this is heaven”) sandwiches, filled with pork, steak and pastrami.

Patrons can also choose from two types of freshly baked loaves to take home: an Italian-style bread called Pan de Agua or Pan Sobao, a soft, sweet bread.

Both cost $2.29 and weigh one pound, Ivetteliz Cotto said.

The front display counter is full of desserts with intriguing names and plenty of variety. Popular desserts such as flan, a milk custard dish, are arranged next to round quesitos that have a cream cheese filling surrounded by soft, flaky pastry. They’re like a cannoli,” said Jose Cotto. Another favorite is the tembleque, made with cream of coconut and cinnamon.

The Cottos have lived in Torrington for five years after having moved from Bronx, where they enjoyed the type of food they now sell in their bakery. To find similar cuisine, they traveled to Waterbury to the original Bread From Heaven Bakery at 1870 E. Main St.

“We went down to get the bread. You can’t find it anywhere else,” Jose Cotto said.

After making the trek to Waterbury many times, the Cottos thought about opening a bakery of their own. They talked to the owners of their favorite panadería, Ruben and Manny Da Cruz, who agreed to start a franchise business with the Cottos.

Products sold in Waterbury are provided to the Torrington location as part of the business agreement, Jose Cotto said.

He likes the busy Main Street location.

“It’s the melting pot of the city. Demographically, it made the most sense,” he said. “There are Hispanic, African-Americans and Caucasians here. It’s like a New York corner.”

The bakery is open Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and they deliver lunch items to Torrington locations. To reach the bakery, call 860618-5058, or visit them on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/Maria-Maria-Breadfrom-Heaven-Bakery -166470597378566/

Contributed photo Ivetteliz and Jose Cotto celebrate the grand opening of their bakery on June 9 with mayor Elinor Carbone.

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media Ivetteliz Cotto, owner of Bread From Heaven Bakery, works the cash register.

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media The bakery, on the corner of Main and East Pearl streets, is located at “the melting pot of the city,” Jose Cotto said.