By Christopher Holland • The Current Contributing Writer
Every day at 5 a.m., Larry Padora mixes flour, rolls dough and preps for the once-a-day bake in an anthracite coal-fired oven, possibly the only one of its kind in the nation.
It’s a routine that has been occurring at the bakery in one way or another for more than 120 years, and if Padora has his way, it will continue for another 120 years and beyond.
“We’re going to keep making the finest bread that people have loved for so long,” said Padora, who is targeting other areas to market, including the Lehigh Valley.
His Padora’s Italian Bakery on Railroad Street in Tamaqua is an institution in Schuylkill County. His father, Lawrence “Mickey” Padora, spent more than 50 years making fresh, hard-crusted Italian bread in the firebrick oven at the bakery, which sits on a hillside, next to railroad tracks, at 122 Railroad St.
Today, consumers say the bread is without equal, and some travel to Tamaqua from throughout the region to buy it fresh, rather than wait to get it in a store. It contains no chemicals, additives or preservatives.
“We use expensive, high-quality flour from North Dakota,” Larry Padora said. “It’s all natural.”
The dome-topped hearth measures 21 by 20 feet and gets its heat from a vortex of hot, fan-forced air shot from the coal fire. The fire is positioned on the side of the oven, not underneath.
“When we get the fire going, flames shoot across the entire oven with temperatures reaching 1,200 degrees,” Padora said. “We bake at about 650 degrees,” he added.
The one-room outfit produces about 500 loaves a day, six days a week. The stove uses about two tons of coal per month.
For the past nine years, Padora has been accompanied in the day-to-day operations by his assistant, Dwayne Allen.
“Dwayne has been a longtime family friend and has been working here for the past nine years,” Padora said. “He helps with everything from the prep work to delivering to the stores.”
The oven was built around the turn of the 20th century by George D’Allesio Dallas, who commissioned experts from Italy to do the job.
Dallas owned and operated the bakery in the 1890s until 1911, when he passed it down to Odoriso Sozio and sons, who ran the business until the 1920s.
Afterward, it was taken over by one of Sozio’s helpers, Emedio Zaraca, originally from Italy, who baked bread until his death in 1955.
Zaraca’s wife Anna and son Robert continued for another year before turning it over to Mickey Padora, who changed the name from Tamaqua Italian Bakery to its present name.
Padora learned the bread-making technique while assisting Zaraca. Now, it’s in Larry Padora’s hands.
While most of the output stays in homes and eateries in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties, the bread has made its way across the nation, and to Ireland, Wales and Canada, among many others.
“Locals come right in to the bakery and know just what time to be here to get fresh loaves right out of the oven,” Larry Padora said. “Most of our business has been by word-of-mouth, and people know the name around here.”
Padora’s bread is delivered three times a week to Jim Thorpe Market in Carbon County.
“It sells very quickly,” said Corinne Miller, manager at the market.
“We have people that call in to have loaves set aside, so it’s a popular product,” she said. “It doesn’t last very long on the shelf.”
Padora has an entrepreneurial spirit that has led him into other business ventures. He also has a family owned business, Padora’s Six Pack House at 209 Railroad St. (adjacent to the bakery), where he sells beer and homemade hoagies with the specialty bread.
“We’ve been very successful with the beer store and deli, and using our bread for the sandwiches is a big hit,” he said.
And while his roots run deep in the coal region, Padora said that he’d eventually like to start delving into other markets, such as the Lehigh Valley.
“We don’t really have a presence in the Lehigh Valley, but it’s certainly a place that we’d like to expand to if the opportunity fits,” he said. “I’ve even recently thought about franchising, but have a lot to figure out before moving forward with that.”
Padora, 44, keeps busy operating the two businesses, while also being actively involved with local government. He became the Schuylkill County Tax Committee Chairman after being unanimously elected. As chairman, Padora has helped to negotiate one of the lowest tax rates in Pennsylvania.
“I’ve always been someone who fixes things and makes them run better,” said Padora, who is president of borough council in New Ringgold, where he lives.
While Padora stays involved with politics, he plans to continue running the bakery and six-pack shop while potentially pursuing other business ventures.
“I was the only one in the family that had an interest in keeping the bakery alive, and it’s too significant of a brand to have ceased operations,” he said, speaking of when he took it over from his father. “… We’ll see what other options might become available in the future regarding expanding the business.”
Padora said that people arrive from all over the county and beyond to buy the bread directly from the bakery.
“Some people can buy the bread at their local grocery store, but drive here instead to get it directly from the source. … People are that passionate about the quality of our product,” he said.
He said that anyone is welcome to visit the bakery and purchase bread. Its daily bake includes “large” and “small” rolls that are $6 and $3, respectively.
“We see people from all walks of life come in here for our bread. … And the stories I hear from them about our product is always rewarding,” he said.
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