Community Corner

Stoughton Patch Conversations: Coffee With Stoughton Bakery's Ann Azul

Stoughton Bakery owner Ann Azul talks about her business and her life in town.

If she's not the hardest working person is Stoughton, then Ann Azul, the owner of Stoughton Bakery, is definitely in the top five in town.

From early in the morning to early in the evening, Azul is baking, cooking and greeting her customers, whom she amazingly knows by their first names, sharing a smile and asking how they are doing. 

She alternates back and forth, speaking English and Portuguese, to people who come to her business to buy a cup of coffee, rolls, bread, pastries or lunch. In the morning, her customers stop by before catching the train next door.

"They followed us from the hardware store," she said of her customers. "They are very loyal. I feel blessed."

After growing up in Somerville, she moved to Stoughton when she was 16, after her father opened up a hardware store downtown. Ann went to work for her dad right away, taking a year off school before going back to graduate in the Stoughton High School Class of 1986.

"I remember the first day Dad took us off the highway, there was all this great grass," said Azul of the trip to Stoughton in 1984 with a smile, "I said, 'Dad look at all this grass.' "

Azul bought the bakery in 2009 after her father Manny retired from owning Pacheco Hardware. She was looking for something to do, and decided to go into business for herself.

"We were going through a transition," she said. "I could have worked for someone else or opened my own business."

In between waiting on customers, and visiting with her dad, Azul talked with Stoughton Patch about her life in Stoughton and her business, which is located at 29 Wyman St.

1. SP: Who taught you how to bake?

AA: I actually learned by life skills. Although I baked for home, the kids' birthday cakes and watched my mom who loves to bake, I never baked production-wise, which is totally different than baking at home. When we bought the bakery, the previous owner taught me for three months 

2. SP: What was the hardest thing to learn?

AA: You just can't just take a recipe and think you're going to double or triple and make it for 10, and multiply by 10. It just doesn't work that way. Cooking, you can fool around with, adding a dash here and there, but baking has to be the same thing every time.

3. SP: How do make such great bread?

AA: The bread was the recipe of the previous owner. My husband Lino, he was the one that kind of tweaked it a bit and that's to his credit. The previous owner had his way of making his bread, and we have the way we like it."

4. SP: What is your favorite thing to bake?

AA: It would have to be the Portuguese custard cups.

5. SP: What do you do when you get home?

AA: Actually, I don't do anything. At the end of the day, it's just collapse, take a shower and get ready for the next day. I work 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. It's a lot of hours.

6. SP:Is there anything you'd like to try to make?

AA: "I would really like to get into the cake end of it. I can't figure how to do it yet, to make enough money to have someone on staff doing it. I take too long to decorate and it's too time consuming. I can't afford the time that it needs."

7. SP: What do you like most about Stoughton?

AA: I like the diversity. All the different types of people who are here.

8. SP: What did you learn from the hardware store that helps you with your business?

AA: I learned how to deal  with people, and I learned that from watching my dad. I learned everything I know from him. I learned how to treat people, how to treat customers and how to work hard.

9. SP: How many people do you have working here?

AA: I have myself, my two sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, my two kids, sometimes three. My dad and mom come by, my kids come by. It seems no matter what is going on, we congregate here. I love that part.

10. SP: Do you cook at home, and what do you cook?

AA: Sunday is the one day I like to take my time. If we don't have anything else going on, like a party, shower or a birthday going on, I like to make that one nice meal. I'll make codfish, pot roast or beef stew, all comfort food.

Stoughton Bakery is open seven days a week, Mondays through Friday, 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Stoughton