In just a few days, the possible fate of Proof Bread has changed twice.
The Mesa bakery, owned by husband-and-wife team Jon Przybyl and Amanda Abou-Eid, has had a steady presence at various Valley farmers markets and gained a local following over the years.
But as of Sept. 10, following a series of complaints to the city of Mesa, likely from a disgruntled neighbor, city officials are forcing the couple to relocate Proof's operations from the couple's home, Przybyl said.
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Luck struck that weekend when Przybyl found a potential location in downtown Mesa to re-home the bakery. Now their next challenge is making and financing the complicated move by the city's deadline of Jan. 15, 2021.
"We’ve overcome tons of obstacles to get to this point," Przybyl said. "This just seemed most daunting, but it's crazy how things evolved over the weekend. I’m still so upset, but now we're fast-moving toward a solution."
How Proof started in a residential garage
For the past three years, the couple was allowed to operate their Mesa bakery from a residential, converted garage because of Arizona's cottage food law. The law allows people to sell baked goods prepared in a home kitchen.
The aroma of sourdough bread and croissants often wafts from their home in Mesa, where Przybyl and Abou-Eid operate Proof after taking it over from the original owner, Jared Allen, a man who made artisan bread in his garage to sell at the Gilbert farmers market.
In 2017, the couple, who had been loyal customers at the time, learned Allen was moving and decided to purchase the business from him, despite having jobs and no experience baking bread.
Allen gave Przybyl a two-week crash course on how to make sourdough bread. Everything after that has been trial and error, Przybyl said.
"It was like a Medieval-style bakery," Przybyl recalled. "We hand-mixed huge batches of dough with no air conditioning in the summer. We were baking this beautiful, artisan, Old World style bread."
Przybyl said that in the beginning, they couldn't leave their jobs because Proof did not make enough money to support their family — the couple has two daughters, Amara and Keira. The equipment they started with included a half-broken refrigerator, a few loaf forms and "a really terrible convection oven," Przybyl remembered.
For about the first year and a half, he and Abou-Eid would start baking at 5 a.m. every Friday and work through the night without sleeping for Saturday farmers markets; Abou-Eid would take Gilbert and Przybyl would take downtown Phoenix.
Quitting his desk job to go into baking full-time was an intense experience, Przybyl admitted.
But 2020 was supposed to bring a sense of stability.
Przybyl's father came from Poland multiple times and helped build add-ons to the garage. His oldest daughter Amara started baking and selling cookies with Proof when she was six. Their two-person business has now grown to a staff of 12 with health benefits, plus contractors. They now sell Proof at five farmers markets in the Valley, Przybyl said with a note of pride.
When the pandemic struck, the couple added home deliveries. They also started a YouTube channel that now has more than 66,000 subscribers.
"We thought we could finally stabilize and see what was next," Przybyl said. "We knew Proof was going to move eventually — cottage laws aren’t intended for large-scale operations. Ever since we started this, the community has supported us in a journey that’s been expensive, exhausting, but also exhilarating."
Why Mesa is forcing Proof to relocate
Problems with their location began occurring in 2019 when the couple received a notice from Mesa Code Compliance about visible commercial storage on the property, Przybyl said. An email dated Aug. 27, 2020, from the city to Przybyl shows that Mesa closed the case.
But additional notices came. One involved employees' cars parked on the street in front of his house, Przybyl said. There's usually not more than a few employees working at the bakery at the same time, so that seemed like an easy fix, Przybyl reasoned. They added a parking pad for their employees, he said.
Around summer 2020, the notices became more severe and threatened fines, Przybyl recalled. He suspected one of the neighbors was watching their home and filing complaints with the city.
"It was very invasive," Przybyl said. "We were constantly looking over our shoulder. They would drive by, took photos and then we got a letter in the mail."
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In August 2020, Mesa council member and Vice Mayor Mark Freeman visited the bakery with a code compliance officer to work out a solution, Przybyl said. From Przybyl's understanding, Proof would have more than a year to move part of their operations to a warehouse, then follow with the rest, as long as he showed they were making progress with relocation.
Przybyl felt reassured — his family had only recently learned their youngest daughter has Friedreich's ataxia, a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Navigating how to care for their daughter, on top of running the business for the financial wellbeing of his family and his employees, would have been a lot to handle with a relocation added to the mix, he said.
That's why it came as a surprise when about 40 days later, he received a notice they would need to cease operations at their residence by Jan. 15, 2020, Przybyl said.
Przybyl felt devastated and betrayed. But despite his initial feelings, Przybyl said his personal emotions have since evolved. With his and his wife's plan to keep Proof in Mesa, it's important for them to work with the city to overcome this challenge.
"As painful as their enforcement can be, as unreasonable it can seem from my perspective, I can’t possibly know what the overall pressures the city may face are," Przybyl said.
"I have no choice but to make this work and assume the best in people, and whatever forces led to this, simply are there and I have to let go that there is some sort of malicious intent. I don’t think it was malicious intent, I just think that people’s hands were tied."
What's next for Proof Bread?
Przybyl said the idea of moving to downtown Mesa feels particularly special because of Proof's connection with the neighborhood. He and Abou-Eid had their wedding reception at Cider Corps. Myke Olsen, owner of Myke's Pizza, used to work at Proof. Worth Takeaway, a sandwich shop, was one of Proof's early-days restaurant clients.
"We look at that downtown district as one of the most charming and underrated areas of town," Przybyl said. "We think if enough creative, like-minded entrepreneurs can overcome regulatory obstacles and choose that area, it will be one of the most special areas of the city to come and visit and have incredible local experiences."
The relocation itself will have obstacles, he admitted. Their garage is now a 1,200-square-foot space with an infrastructure that's not easy to move. They'll need to build out the interior of their new brick-and-mortar location, too.
The move could potentially require them to halt operations over the winter holidays, the bakery's peak season. Przybyl estimates the move will cost six figures and they're planning to start a GoFundMe to pay for expenses.
"We are feeling a little more hopeful," Przybyl said. "Our entire community both online and locally has been rallying."
"The pressure hasn’t changed, but at the same time, the city is at least doing their part to help this along and turn this into something positive ultimately in the long run."
Proof Bread plans to move operations to downtown Mesa before Jan. 15, 2021.
Details: Location to be announced. Follow updates at facebook.com/ProofArtisanBread and instagram.com/proofbread.
Reach the reporter at Priscilla.Totiya@azcentral.com. Follow @priscillatotiya on Twitter and Instagram.
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