Missouri Baking Company co-owner 'blindsided' by lawsuit

Baker Steve Kubsh pours eggs into cookie dough he's mixing at Missouri Baking Co. on Thursday, June 18, 2015.

ST. LOUIS — An owner of Missouri Baking Co. said on Tuesday that he was “completely blindsided” by a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the business and that he has no intention of shuttering the 100-year-old bakery.

Anthony Favazza, a new co-owner of the shop on the Hill, said he was approached this spring to buy in, called the owners a “bedrock” of the neighborhood and the bakery a “beloved institution.”

“I want to make sure this thing’s open another 100 years,” Favazza said on Tuesday.

Last week, Camille Lordo, a co-owner of Missouri Baking Co., sued to close the bakery and sell off its assets, saying she and Favazza were “unable to agree upon the desirability of continuing the business of Missouri Baking Company.”

Lordo and her brother Chris Gambaro were the third generation in their family to own and operate the Italian bakery on the Hill at 2027 Edwards Street.

Favazza said that he bought Gambaro’s shares of the business just three weeks ago after being first approached by him in May.

“It was very flattering when the family called me,” Favazza said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch Tuesday. “It was totally out of the blue. They said, ‘We need your help’ and I said, ‘I’m happy to help.’”

But the newcomer said Lordo initially didn’t want to meet with him. Eventually, Favazza said Lordo’s lawyer reached out to set up a meeting with Lordo, her son Joseph, the lawyer and Favazza. Still, Lordo never said she wanted to shutter her family’s bakery. In fact, she told Favazza she wasn’t going anywhere, he said.

“She never gave me any indication she wanted to close the business,” he said. “She did tell me frequently what a bad business it was and what a poor investment I had made.”

Favazza has a history with taking on and preserving St. Louis legacy food businesses, which is why the Gambaros sought him out, he said. He owns Amighetti’s, opened in 1916, and Hank’s Cheesecake, which has been around since 1987.

“It’s important these things continue for future generations,” he said.

Missouri Baking Co. was started by Stefano Gambaro, who emigrated from Genoa, Italy, in the early 1900s. In the business’ early days, it was a wholesale bread company.

Stefano’s children took over the bakery after Stefano died. The youngest sibling, Ben, eventually sold Missouri Baking Co. to his kids — Stefano’s grandchildren — Camille “Mimi” Lordo and brother Chris Gambaro. The bakery has since become a staple in the community, celebrated for its traditional Italian cookies and pastries. Longtime residents of the Hill recall growing up with visits there. And it has also won accolades from national and local press.

Favazza said he envisioned ramping up wholesale production and introducing online ordering to Missouri Baking Company.

But, for the immediate future, the restaurateur said he is still trying to figure out his legal next steps.

“I think her lawsuit speaks for itself,” Favazza said. “She wants to close the bakery and I want to keep it open.”

Lordo’s attorney, Mark Sanders of Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.

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Retail Reporter

The shop, at 2027 Edwards Street, was started by Stefano Gambaro, who emigrated from Genoa, Italy, to Missouri in the early 1900s.

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