Daily Inspiration: Meet Sarah Gartzman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Gartzman. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Pastry chef, restaurateur, sommelier, and serial entrepreneur is the founder of Sweetie’s Sandwich Shop, Mo Burrito, and The Biker & The Baker in Salida, Colorado with her husband and partner in everything, Rob. Most recently, she and her husband are in the beginning stages of disrupting the commercial baking boxed mix category of the consumer packaged goods segment in grocery stores with their new company, Hey, Sweetie! – a line of Sarah’s trademarked baked goods recipes followers can make and bake at home.

Sarah hails from the windy city of Chicago, where she met her high school sweetheart and married 10 years later just before moving to the heart of the Rockies in Salida, Colorado and beginning their first business venture together, Sweetie’s Bakery & Deli located downtown Salida in 2012. Before their dreams of owning their first bakery together led them to Salida, Sarah graduated from Culinary School of The Rockies in Boulder, Colorado in 2005. She went on to work in prestigious Colorado bakeries and kitchens in the Boulder/ Denver area, helped open the Savory Spice Shop in Boulder, Colorado, taught both professional and home cook classes for CSR and later landed a full-time position with CSR assisting with their digital media marketing programs. That took her on to work for other Colorado-based culinary schools as a social media strategist. She has continued to use her social media expertise as she’s helped grow her current brand’s culture through the use of digital marketing – albeit not the main focus of her career. At her core, Sarah is a complete creative who is consumed by the technical and intuitive parts of baking and pastry. Her mind thinks in croissant, colors, loaves of bread, and dessert menus as she continues to change her pastry offerings daily and makes each element of her baked goods in-house each early morning with her staff.

In 2016, Sarah and Rob opening their 2nd restaurant, Mo Burrito, and in 2016, their 3rd, The Biker & The Baker. They sold Mo Burrito to their longtime GM in 2019 and moved both of their existing restaurants into one brand-new, custom-built location to house both concepts at the end of 2020. Since purchasing an existing, under-achieving bakery in 2012, they have experienced 2000% growth among their current brands.

Sarah and Rob currently reside in downtown Salida with their family. They have an eight-year-old daughter, Mabel, seven-year-old son, Ozzie, 2 dogs and a kitty. Their family is everything to them and their motivator in waking up every morning and working as hard and as many hours as they do. Their family enjoy mountain biking the trails of Salida together on the occasional afternoon they all get the time to be together. They love to travel together and experience new places and cultures as a family and only hope that can continue as they become more mature in their businesses.

Sarah and Rob’s newest business venture is in the start-up stages currently and they hope to have an initial prototype finished and on the shelves of their restaurants and local boutiques by the end of the year.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been countless struggles in our businesses along the way! We have always struggled to find the right employees in our small mountain town, maintain our growth in a seasonal town, stay afloat and thrive during COVID, and of course to sustain our mental health. Owning restaurants is not for the faint of heart, but our hearts have always been in the kitchen.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a pastry chef by trade, which I feel makes me an artist with food. My favorite craft is the art of baking sourdough bread, croissant, and rustic artisan pastries. I have a unique style that quirky, big portioned and I make sweets that no one is too good for and that aren’t too fancy for anyone.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I don’t really have a mentor in Salida. My advice to the next generation of up-and-coming restauranteurs is to work hard, put in the time, the effort and the energy and do it right, don’t take any shortcuts. Your fan base will happen over time and they will become your biggest advocates later in your career.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sweetiesinsalida.com www.thebikerandthebaker.com
• Instagram: @sweetiessandwichshop @bikerandbaker
• Facebook: /sweetiessandwichshop /thebikerandthebaker

 

Image Credits
Beth Johnson, Yellow Feather Photography Catherine Eichel Avery Bechtel