
<p>Established in the late 1950s, Skaneateles Bakery is a community and tourism staple that has grown under owners Katie Brennan and Chris Grilli. With a menu of made-from-scratch pastries, soups and sandwiches, the bustling kitchen is full of energy, grit and laughter.</p>


Shweta Gulati

Kenny Holston

10.24.25 Workers in Skaneateles Bakery bustle through the kitchen and coffee bar as customers start to trickle in. The bakery begins work at 5 a.m. before the sun rises. Doors open at 7 a.m. Photo by Ella Chan

10.24.25 Chris Grilli, co-owner of the Skaneateles Bakery, kneads the Italian bread they use for their sandwiches. Each loaf of bread produces approximately 28 slices. Photo by Ella Chan

10.14.25 Jes Perkins hefts loaves of the bakery’s Italian bread on a cooling tray. Fresh sandwich bread is baked every day. Photo by Ella Chan

10.24.25 From left to right, regulars Rene McCarthy and Mary Jo Clary converse with a visiting tourist in the sitting space at the front of the bakery. McCarthy and Clary visit the bakery with three other friends for coffee and tea after their morning walk almost every day of the week. When weather permits, they sit on the benches outside the bakery. Photo by Ella Chan

10.25.25 On Saturday morning, Chris Grilli glances towards the crowd of customers and baristas from beside the stove. The bakery has its largest rush of customers during the weekends. Photo by Ella Chan

10.14.25 Fresh butter cookies come hot out of the oven. Once they cool, bakers pipe cream and raspberry jam between cookies to create melt-in-your-mouth Vienna Swirls. Photo by Ella Chan

10.24.25 Tyema Stephens dusts flour on butter cookie dough to prevent her rolling pin from sticking. The dough will be used for Skaneateles Bakery’s signature Smiley-face cookies. Photo by Ella Chan

10.24.25 Chris Grilli balances a tray of donuts above his head as he navigates the narrow pathway of the kitchen. The kitchen and coffee bar are often crowded with staff and bakers balancing hot trays of freshly baked bread, pastries, drinks and more. Photo by Ella Chan

10.14.25 Workers laugh as they converse during a moment of stillness in the kitchen. Photo by Ella Chan

10.24.25 Tyema Stephens and Hannah Card make Smiley-face cookies and savory scones in the side shop down the street from the bakery. The side shop, a larger kitchen space that used to be a cake shop, is a new addition to the business and gives the bakers more space to prepare goods for the bakery. Photo by Ella Chan

The Alexia Fall Workshop

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BAKED INTO THE JOB

Produced by

Ella Chan

Coached by

Shweta Gulati

Kenny Holston