Reunion bakery gets support from community in Denver's RiNo district after oven explodes
Reunion bakery inside The Source is recovering after a fire and explosion temporarily shut down the Denver business earlier this month. After a few days, they are now back in business selling pastries, croissants and cookies, but it may take months before they are back to selling their well known sourdough bread. That's because their oven exploded.
Reunion Bread Company is located inside The Source Hotel + Market Hall on Brighton Boulevard in the RiNo arts district. Neighbors love this bakery so much that they are stepping up to help out, which is why they set up a donation page to help the bakery.
Repairs will cost a little over $100,000 according to Ismael De Sousa, the owner. De Sousa says insurance will probably only cover about 50% of the costs, which is why he openly accepting the community's help.
At first, he was hesitant.
"No pun intended, I work for my bread with sweat, blood and tears ... and I as an immigrant, I was taught to work for everything," added De Sousa.
"I felt like I was begging when asking for help, and I decided not to do so for a while, but when we learned what we're going to need to cover in terms of money, I decided the only way we can go through this is with the help of that community."
De Sousa opened the bakery nearly 5 years ago after leaving Florida. He came to the U.S. from Venezuela to make his dreams a reality and found his passion through this bakery. Reunion is known for delectable pastries and their sourdough.
De Sousa and his team are now working with the little that they have.
"I guess we can still work ways to get the product into our customers' hands," said De Sousa.
They are using small ovens and other resources they have to still make their daily pastries, while also figuring out a way to make their bread without losing its original touch.
"We are down maybe 70% of our capacity, and on top of that, we have these machines that are very specific ... so unless we get a new one which will take months we'll have to, you know, be creative," said De Sousa.
They're figuring it out as they go. The explosion has made it difficult for them to adjust.
"This is my livelihood, and the heart and the core of our bakery shut down for a while and it will shut us down for I'm going to say a few months...it's been tough," said De Sousa.
But, he remains resilient knowing the community of Denver has their back.
Even with an explosion on one of their busiest days of the year they were still able to deliver to their customers after surrounding restaurants offered up their equipment.
"I think that's a reflection of what's happening right now, everyone coming together to rally for the little bakery, that is pretty amazing," said De Sousa.
The explosion happened on Mother's Day, May 14. The bread oven exploded, which then caused a huge fire inside the bakery at The Source Hotel + Market Hall. No one was near the oven when it blew up, which resulted in no injuries.
The Denver Fire Department arrived on scene, but De Sousa and another employee used fire extinguishers to put the fire out. The fire was caused by a gas leak in the oven. The fire department helped clean up the smoke.
De Sousa, a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist, plans to continue to serve customers their Portuguese and Venezuelan pastries, croissants and other baked goods at their bakery and at the Cherry Creek Farmer's Market every Saturday.
