Nestled on East Main Street in Riverhead, you can find The Baker’s Workshop, a bakery that doubles as a full functioning eaterie for hungry patrons to grab some house-made goods– made fresh by Culinary Arts students enrolled in Suffolk County Community College (SCCC). 

Not only do SCCC students get the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the food industry, but they also satisfy a four-credit class while fulfilling the baking student’s required internship.

“We try to focus on getting the students ready for the industry,” said Christina Delustro, the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program coordinator at SCCC.

Students get to spend 16 hours a week mastering their craft, learning various skills: finishing skills, baking production, cold side production, cake decorating, sanitation, and customer service. 

The Baker’s Workshop, which is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., runs three specials a week with a seasonally geared menu that the students get to collaborate on profile concepts. 

Delustro, who has run the Bakers Workshop since 2008, said that “it’s a hands-on retail experience that encourages students to take their work seriously.”  

Right now, they are offering a deal that includes any soup or salad, a choice of beverage, and two cookies for $11.50. SCCC students can receive ten percent off their total purchase, and from one p.m. to three p.m., all baked goods are 25 percent off. 

Fall favorites include their weekly soup specials, a french vanilla coffee with cinnamon, and a pumpkin spice latte. The bakery also has seasonal gelatos such as maple bourbon and a coffee chip, to name two.

The Bakers Workshop’s usual clientele are local businesses and students. Luckily, their regulars supported the student-run bakery through the trying times of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing students to showcase their skills while maintaining all of the Covid protocols. Delustro said that business started picking up in Sept. and, ever since then, has been extremely busy.

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop. Still, for Burkitt, this experience is less about a college requirement and more of a stepping stone to his future. “It’s one of my favorite classes because we run everything commercially, and we use our inventions when decorating or making something new.”

Stopping by the Bakers Workshop for the first time and not sure what to get? Burkitt recommends trying the rainbow cookies when they are made available, “because we do them differently,” adding that they are soaked in two different amaretto almond syrups to give that extra moist finish. 

Not a sweets fan? The students also offer five to six sandwiches for lunch, and according to Burkitt, the chicken pesto and the turkey brie are must-tries.

The Bakers Workshop’s mission resides in getting students ready for the ever-changing hospitality industry.

“When students start with us, there’s a lot of competition, and we teach students to take what they learn at the Bakers Workshop and apply it to their job,” said DeLustro. 

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop.

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop. Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop.

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop.

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop.

Joseph Burkitt is a first-semester Baking and Pastries major on the Eastern Campus and is currently full-filling his requirement of interning at the Baker’s Workshop.