Flour and Salt Bakery joined Hamilton’s downtown businesses in July and has quickly become successful within the community. As a bakery, Flour and Salt is most famous for their bagels, but it also sells cookies, cakes and other pastries. The owner and primary baker of the shop, Colgate University alumna Britty Buonocore ’12, has made a name for herself within Hamilton’s community.

With the closing of Utica Street Café, Flour and Salt is now the main source of baked goods in the downtown area. Buonocore expressed her excitement on how her business idea has flourished. 

“I went to Colgate and moved away from the area for a few years,” Buonocore said. “My fiancé is also a Colgate alum, and we moved back because we loved the town and love the community.”

“I was looking for a teaching job, [and] also baking in the summer, and this started to take off. We started with bagels, and our landlord offered us this space, which used to be a lawn mower repair shop – very run-down. He bought the building and offered the space to us, and we decided to take the lease,” Buonocore said. 

Buonocore shared some of her struggles with opening the bakery, and she credited her crew for their contributions to the new business.

“We have been open for four weeks now and pushed our crew because we’ve been a little busier than we can handle, but everyone is just ready and willing to offer as much help, creativity and ideas [as they can],” Buonocore said.

Buonocore spoke about the process of opening and running her own business.

“I was an independent baker for a year, so I would bake in a kitchen alone for like 12 hours a day,” Buonocore said. “[Our employees] are creative and hard-working people.”

In its first month since opening its doors, Flour and Salt has already cultivated a base of dedicated customers in Hamilton.

“Since it opened I’ve visited about three or four times,” junior Rachel Geyer said. “The bagels are really good and the cookies are good, and it’s a cute little place to hangout and do work.”

The bakery follows a similar pattern every day. They open at 7 a.m., and by 9 a.m. they have been on the brink of selling out. High demand for baked goods explains why the bakery often closes so early in the day. 

“Some of the times I have visited they have run out of bagels, but I think it’s just really busy right now,” Geyer said. “Everyone is really excited about the bakery opening up.” 

Since the bakery is owned by a Colgate alumna, students expressed a feeling of connection to the bakery.

“I think it is really cool that someone who went to Colgate came back to Hamilton. She probably has an idea of what Colgate students want. We like food,” Geyer said.

Although Hamilton is a small town, the bakery has become known through social media websites, like Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram. The bakery has already amassed more than 1,000 followers on Instagram. Despite opportunities to expand the bakery in the future, Buonocore has decided to keep her business close to home. 

“I like how it is right now,” Buonocore said. “This is our place. A lot of people ask about branching [out], and I’m not [planning to just yet]. I like having our singular shop right now and I hope the community continues to love it.”