Ismael De Sousa, owner of Reunion Bread Co, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
It was over a year ago that Reunion Bread founder Ismael De Sousa had announced the bakery’s eventual relocation from the Source Hotel in RiNo to South Pearl Street in Platt Park.
He hoped to open his expanded store last May, he said Tuesday, seated in front of his existing shop inside the Source’s market hall. But it was a newly partitioned property without any plumbing or electricity, he said. A lengthy period of construction and permit approvals with the city of Denver would push back that opening date and tack on thousands of dollars in renovations.
The space, at 1240 S. Pearl St., is almost ready for business and could be open as soon as the end of March.
“This is just not the same Reunion,” De Sousa said of the new space, which is more than twice the size of his stall at the Source. “You’re in a bakery that feels a little bit like a restaurant.”
The pastry chef, 42, was born in Portugal and raised in Venezuela before he moved to the United States. Reunion sells goods inspired by these countries, such as the Nata, an egg custard tart popular in Portugal, and the Golfeado, a Venezuelan sticky bun.
The bakery drew a big rave in its opening year from Bon Appétit magazine, and De Sousa was nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker at the 2023 James Beard Awards.
On top of De Sousa’s mind for his new location is the cold display case, which will allow his staff to make and refrigerate cakes, eclairs and other “cream-based things” he didn’t want to reveal yet.
He expects to make savory items, such as a focaccia-based pizza, and slowly introduce new pastries. Lastly, he said he hopes to acquire a liquor license to sell wine in the afternoons.
The building Reunion Bread is moving into is also the new home of Food Lab, a cooking school.
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