After years in the advertising business, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito decided to leave their day jobs and open a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Baked opened in January 2005 to instant rave reviews. They designed the place to be the anti “grandma’s kitchen," a modern space with hints of ski lodge and new frontier motifs. They recently opened a second Baked in Charleston, South Carolina.

Matt and Renato have been featured on Oprah, the Food Network, Martha Stewart and Today. The bakery has been reviewed in countless magazines, both local and nationwide.

The pair wrote Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, which is a book that they hope will make baking fun and accessible to everyone. Among the selections in the book are Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Root Beer Bundt Cake, and, for the more serious baker, Almond Green Tea Cupcakes and Lemon-Almond Meringue Tarts.

Matt and Renato live in Brooklyn.