Panino’s Bakery & Cafe in 100 Mile House has been a popular fixture since 1998, but on Dec. 24, they hung the “Closed” sign on the front door for the very last time.
Baker, pastry chef and owner, Norbert Boos, along with his wife, Manuela Boos, ran the European style bakery for 14 years, but, that has come to an end.
“For us, it’s time for a change,” says Manuela.
Norbert has developed an allergy to flour, which he says is common to bakers, and while they tried hard to sell the business, there were no takers.
Manuela says she can understand why this happened.
Norbert did all of the baking, beginning his workday at about midnight and getting back home at 1 p.m., five days a week.
On Mondays, the bakery was closed, but the day was devoted to doing the prep work for the coming week.
Sunday was the only real day off, but sometimes work interfered then, too.
“We don’t have much of a life. People get scared, thinking they can’t keep up to what he does. It’s a challenge and a dying art,” says Manuela.
The daily baking regime saw Norbert putting out several dozen each of between 10 and 15 different types of bread and buns, muffins, danish and puff pastries, savoury sausage rolls and meat pies.
On top of that, birthday cake orders were filled and fancy cakes and desserts turned out regularly.
Filling emergency orders would see him put in extra hours at the bakery without even a hint of a complaint.
The only real break they had was an annual one-month holiday they took together in the winter to rejuvenate, during which the bakery was closed and quality time spent at home enjoying the simple things in life.
Otherwise, Manuela was at the bakery every morning by 6 a.m. and doors opened at 7:30 a.m. to waiting customers. They had their regulars and that’s what she’ll miss the most.
So many have become her friends and she’s shared their lives and seen them come and go. Manuela says she is most proud of the individual customer service she and her staff were able to provide over the years, from delivering cakes if a customer couldn’t make it to the shop to baking specialty breads for those with allergies.
“Our staff has been incredible and they’ve all made a difference. It’s about all of us.”
She also takes pride in how they began their business.
The couple emigrated from Switzerland to Canada in 1988, seeing the move as a great adventure.
They both left well-paying jobs, and with $8,000 in their pockets and no knowledge of the English language, settled in Lumby where Norbert’s dad had arranged a job for him at a bakery.
The couple spent the first seven years living in a small cabin, sharing the space with mice and squirrels and scavenging what they could to make it more comfortable. For the first year, there was no running water and the roof leaked, and while life was tough, so were they.
Manuela says she was too proud to tell her parents back home about how things actually were and they carried on.
“They were the best times for me. We had good times and lived the real Canadian life.”
They followed family members to 100 Mile House in 1998 and renovated an old dollar store to house their own bakery.
Norbert built a scale model of what he envisioned and then duplicated it to become a real bakery and cafe.
Stuck for a name, a friend suggested Panino’s, after the Italian panini bread.
There were already two other bakeries in town, so they specialized in European baking and strove to satisfy the tastes of Swiss, Germans and Canadians.
Like every Christmas season, Norbert was exceptionally busy in the bakery this year, rolling out staggering numbers of special cookies and other sweet treats.
Over the course of a few weeks, he baked 20,000 shortbread and gingerbread cookies, many loaves of Christmas stollen and much more.
Every year for 20 years, Norbert has also created a unique gingerbread house, which he designs, and he and daughter, Angela, create together.
After the individual pieces are baked and cut, it takes another three-to-five hours for the pair to complete it.
The work has been demanding, but Manuela says one could always hear laughter in the kitchen. Most often, it’s been laughter without a face as Norbert has preferred to stay low-key.
During their 11 years in Lumby, scarcely anyone ever saw the man behind the spectacular baking, but that wasn’t his big concern.
“Norbert is proud of what he does and good enough is not good enough for him,” says Manuela. “I’m very proud of my husband.”
Expectations for closing day were to be one of sadness and tears for the good memories they have made and the customers they will miss.
