We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Richard & Vincent Ionata a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Richard & Vincent, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and moments. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

A great product and exceptional customer service. We use high grade ingredients in our products and we have top standards for taste and presentation. Being able to connect with customers and give them a great experience makes them feel valued and appreciated. We see that it works for us by the positive reviews, referrals and repeat business.

Richard & Vincent, love having you share your perspectives with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re Vincent and Richard and we own and operate Sarasota Bakehouse, a family run bakery.

We create custom cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings and other special events.

We also offer a variety of baked goods including a large variety of cupcakes (including gluten-free and vegan

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We’re brothers!

Our parents are our inspiration. We learned from them to have a strong work ethic and diligence for learning. They did everything they could to put us on a path to succeed.

Our Italian mother loves to cook and we grew up seeing her passion for cooking every single day. Our father owned his own medical business for decades and taught us the importance of hard work and accountability. They both inspired us to have that same passion each and every day.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What sets us apart from others is our product and our customer service. We use high grade quality ingredients. For example, we only use premium chocolate in our shop. Our customers appreciate us filling a void in the marketplace by offering a large variety of gluten-free and vegan options. That’s important for people with allergies, celiac disease or other autoimmune disorders.
It’s not only the product itself that sets us apart — it’s the experience our customers are going to receive when they interact with us. We come from a long line of bakers, cooks and entrepreneurs in Italy and the U.S. The difference between good and exceptional has been instilled in us from a very young age. We’re proud to work hard to ensure our customers receive a personal, unique, and positive experience.

We want them to know we value and appreciate them. We’re thrilled when our customers tell us things like “Your food is amazing,” “our wedding cake was perfect”, “you answered all our questions”, or “you were wonderful to work with”.

Contact Info:

• Website: sarasotabakehouse.com
• Instagram: sarasotabakehouse
• Facebook: Sarasota Bakehouse