Bakery is 'a little bit of Europe in Lynchburg'

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Mariel Hackman works along side her father Steve making homemade danishes at Lorraine Bakery that Steve and his wife Petra started three years ago to give Mariel, who has Down Syndrome, something to do. Photo by Jill Nance
Petra Hackman helps a customer at Lorraine Bakery that her and her husband started three years ago. Photo by Jill Nance
Steve Hackman prepares chocolate rolls at Lorraine Bakery at the Community Market. Photo by Jill Nance

By: Casey Gillis | The Burg
Published: January 02, 2012

LYNCHBURG --

Petra Hackman began breaking bread out of necessity.

"She couldn't find any bread she liked here," says Steve, her husband of 26 years.

"She's self-taught, and I'm taught by her."

The couple and their family have run Lorraine Bakery, now a fixture in the Community Market, for three years.

Petra grew up in Germany and moved here with Steve in 1986. They met when he was traveling abroad for work and stayed at the hotel where she was a clerk.

She has no formal cooking background but says it comes naturally.

"I was 30 before I left Germany, so I have all this (information) stored," she says. "We have the European point of reference. I know what it's supposed to be like."

When they first became market vendors, Steve and Petra baked all their bread at home and, every Saturday, were often greeted by eager customers who would help them unload their van to get first dibs on the product.

During that time, their son, Chris, tested some of the recipes on his friends at E.C. Glass High School, and many of their parents became the Hackmans' customers. Chris is now a student at American University but continues to help out with the bakery when he's home.

"We were baking in six regular ovens, mostly bread, but we branched out to a little bit of pastry," Steve says.

After a year, two vendors left the market, and Steve tore down the wall between them to give Lorraine Bakery a spot.

They soon began making more pastries, as well as crepes; now, they only make bread on Wednesdays and Saturdays, their busiest days.

To prepare, Steve and a couple of non-family employees typically work through the night on Friday to get everything ready for the Saturday market, making for some weekends where he works 35 hours straight ("a marathon," he says).

The bakery has also built up quite the local following, especially among Lynchburg's international residents.

"If you pass their line on a Saturday morning, you might hear four or five different languages," says Market Manager Jennifer Kennedy.

Francoise Watts, originally from France, is one of those customers.

"The croissants are exactly as they make them in France," says Watts, who teaches French at Randolph College and visits the bakery at least twice a week. "They've nailed (it). It's a little bit of Europe in Lynchburg."

Casey Gillis writes for The News & Advance of Lynchburg.