A twist on a Federal Hill original

The Original Palmieri’s Bakery has been in business for more than a century, including 67 years at its current location, and in that time, it has earned such a devoted following that even snowbirds who head down to Florida can’t go without their pepper and wine biscuits.
Every winter, Palmieri’s ships more than 100 pounds of baked goods southward per week, including the biscuits, made with the same recipe since 1899.
And those long-standing recipes have successfully carried the state’s oldest continually run bakery over into the hands of new owners after being in the Palmieri family for two generations.
About two and a half years ago, Steven Meresi and his wife, Theresa, took over the reins – buying the naming rights, assets and recipes from Anthony and Marianne Palmieri. Since then, they have bolstered a business that had begun to fade.
“As the years went on, the neighborhood bakery concept kind of faded away, and they had scaled back a little bit,” said Steven Meresi. “And we just resurrected it.”
Under their ownership, business has steadily risen – with wholesale sales doubling and retail sales tripling. But it hadn’t been their plan to operate a bakery.
“I’m actually a real estate developer,” said Steven. “I was born and raised, and currently live, in Federal Hill. And I was always interested in the building.” So, during 2005, he bought the building, a 2,500-square-foot brick structure on Ridge Street.
At the time of the sale, the agreement was that the Palmieris – Anthony’s father was founder Carmine Palmieri – were to continue operating the bakery in perpetuity.
Then, less than a year later, they came to Meresi and said they’d talked about the future and they’d decided that at the end of that year, the bakery would close its doors.
“And, basically, I said, ‘You can’t do that,’” Steven said, “‘because you have such a great reputation,’ ” and bakers who rely on that income.
At that time, Theresa had recently completed her undergraduate education in animal science; she planned on becoming a veterinarian and was taking a short time off before continuing her education. “But it came about that we just jumped into this,” said Steven, “and three years later we’ve grown it to a decent success.”
Much of the increase in retail sales stems from a renovated café-style storefront with a street-side bistro and indoor tables. Yet the Meresis also realized when they renovated the bakery that they had a customer base that might be wary of big changes.
“It’s definitely a different look, but it looks old-world because we wanted to keep it within that reputation that we do have,” said Steven Meresi. “We’ve had all positive feedback from our customers.”
They are planning, too, to expand the building – mostly the kitchen – within the next year to meet the growing demand and to make room for pizza baking.
“We want to offer a variety of brick-oven pizzas that will be offered by-order, to go, to really capitalize on the business end of our pizzas,” said Steven, noting that now Palmieri’s cold pizza strips are “famous” throughout the state. “Seeing the demand of that and the reviews from the customers, we want to just take that to the next level.”
They might even extend their hours and start delivering pizza.
There have been other additions to the menu, as well, which had been just bread and biscuits. The Meresis added a full line of pastries and increased the varieties of bread available. They now offer Eccles cakes, challah, and lunch and breakfast sandwiches. But they still do all baking in-house, and have brought on new pastry bakers.
To be able, as new owners, to take such a traditional business and grow it, the Meresis must be doing something right. But then again, Steven and Theresa Meresi might have been able to scrape by on name recognition alone.
“This is the original,” said Steven Meresi. “There have been others around the state – such as D. Palmieri’s and J. Palmieri’s – but there’s always an initial in front of them, different ownership and no affiliation with this bakery.”
That’s actually why the name includes “the Original.” It was added decades ago to distinguish this Palmieri’s from its competitors. •
Company Profile: The Original Palmieri’s Bakery
Location: 147 Ridge St., Providence
Owners: Steven and Theresa Meresi
Year Founded: 1901
Employees: 12
Annual Revenue: WND