Choclo Bakery opens Friday in former Hungry Ghost Bread location

A new bakery is opening Friday at the downtown Northampton location where Hungry Ghost Bread operated for years. Co-owners Sam Coates-Finke and Ana Valle purchased the 62 State Street space last December from Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei and spent the spring renovating it to open as Choclo Bakery.

Choclo Bakery will serve sourdough breads, challahs, and laminated pastries. The bakery opens Friday at 8 a.m. and will operate Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. once established. Coates-Finke, a Northampton native who builds wood-fired brick ovens and teaches Jewish baking classes, said the couple's approach focuses on quality: "If we do good work, people will like what we do."

Valle, who immigrated from Peru in April, brings experience baking in Lima, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. She specializes in Nordic-style laminated pastries and is the namesake behind Choclo, the Peruvian corn used in many of her childhood dishes. The bakery's centerpiece remains the original wood-fired oven, though the owners renovated the space with new flooring, paint, and bars along the walls where customers can watch the open kitchen.

The couple met through a mutual friend at a French vineyard and chose Northampton over Copenhagen and Barcelona to open their bakery. They plan to source ingredients from regional suppliers, including Boho Chocolate in Florence and Ground Up Grain in Holyoke. Coates-Finke said he will include Jewish baked goods for Shabbat and special items for holidays, since "much of a holiday's significance is centered around family and food."

Renovations finished just two days before their son, Octavio "Oti," was born 10 weeks ago. Coates-Finke and Valle are the bakery's only staff and will balance operating the business while raising their child. City permits were granted the day after their son was born.