Brian Bienvenue
Vegan Baker
Zac & Ani’s
by Kathleen Downey
Brian Bienvenue
There’s a new baker in town . . . and he’s vegan. Actually, Brian Bienvenue is not vegan, but most of his pastries and all of his breads are vegan. His wife Anne is vegan, and so is his 4-year-old daughter, Ani. His 15-year-old son Zac, a student at Newburyport High School, is vegan-friendly, like his dad. The heart-shaped Zac & Ani’s sign that adorns the awning of the Liberty street café is a loving tribute to his two children and to Bienvenue’s dedication to creating healthful, good-tasting foods.
To the uninitiated, vegan (pronounced VEE-gn, with a long “e” and a hard “g”) foods are those that contain no animal-derived ingredients. Baking substitutions for eggs could be creamy soy yogurt, silken tofu, ground flax seed mixed with water, or a product called Ener-G egg replacer (to name a few possibilities). Soy, almond, or rice milk serve as alternative substitutions to dairy milk.
“It’s a misconception that vegan foods are dry and flavorless,” Bienvenue asserts. He is intent on using only “healthy oils.” Bienvenue favors coconut oil for its subtle flavor and “amazing health benefits” (including proper digestion and lower cholesterol levels) and for the moisture it gives to baked goods.
Bienvenue bakes his artisan breads daily. “I use no preservatives,” he stresses. Working with the bread, however, is a fantastic stress reliever, Bienvenue asserts. He talks about the Zen-like frame of mind that he experiences in kneading bread dough. “Food, in general, is energy,” he says, explaining its life force. The importance of imprinting good energy in a loaf of bread, by having a Zen mind, is something that Bienvenue takes seriously.
He loves to create his own recipes, playing with ingredients to achieve just the right consistency and taste. “My baked goods are not gluten-free, but because I use a process that ferments the gluten, they are easy for the body to assimilate,” Bienvenue explains. He shares that one customer, a diagnosed celiac, told him that his vegan bakery items cause no upset to her sensitive digestive system. He stresses that he is not espousing any scientific claims.
However, Bienvenue’s bakery items have been endorsed by the Port’s new rabbi, Avi Poupko of Congregation Ahavas Achim. “Zac & Ani’s is the first and only Kosher-certified Port bakery in Newburyport,” Bienvenue states.
Not only has he impressed the taste buds of those who’ve stopped into his café for a cranberry-orange scone, a vanilla “butter cream” sticky bun, an apple-raisin cinnamon bun, a blueberry muffin, a fudge brownie or other vegan treat beneath the glass case, Bienvenue has also caught the attention of Whole Foods. “They’re interested in picking up my line,” he says of the nationwide natural and organic grocery store chain. And in a most unlikely pairing, McKinnon’s Market and Super Butcher Shop has expressed interest in carrying Bienvenue’s baked goods. “They’re trying to be more inclusive,” Bienvenue says of the carnivore mecca.
Since moving to Newburyport six months ago, Bienvenue has experienced an inclusiveness that feels “awesome.” He recalls trick-or-treating with his daughter downtown, when business owners gave out candy to the many little goblins walking around in costumes. “It just reconfirmed my decision to move to Newburyport,” he says.
His bakery has been open in the Port for just a month (the New Hampshire native first opened his bakery in Amesbury in the location of the former Hippie Chick bakery), but Bienvenue is already busy carving his niche at his Liberty Street location. Besides baked goods, he offers daily soups, sandwiches, and Paninis. He promises his vegan customers that he will soon be offering vegan “BLTs,” a vegan club sandwich, a marinated tempeh sandwich with roasted red pepper pesto, and spinakota. And . . . Bienvenue has Wi-Fi.
He describes walking to Zac & Ani’s from his South End home and seeing his bakery’s sign for the first time. “It was very exciting . . . and overwhelming, but in a good way,” he says.
Bienvenue has been in the restaurant business since the age of 13, “when my mother found me a job in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Manchester, NH,” he laughs. In the 23 years since, he’s worked in a variety of restaurants and also in the food end of a 16,000 square-foot multiservice complex. He’s been in the kitchen and in restaurant management. (Bienvenue studied restaurant management and culinary arts in college.) “After awhile, I decided it was time to do my own thing, so I decided to open my own place,” Bienvenue states.
Zac & Ani’s homey and soothing atmosphere, however, is his wife’s doing. Two pale blue sofas, a divan with a tangerine-colored cushion, and a just-worn-enough wooden table and chairs bring comfort and charm to the one-room bakery café. Several enlarged black and white photographs of the couple’s two children adorn one wall.
“Anne found all the furniture at different antique stores,” Bienvenue says. 
Bienvenue’s wife is a holistic health care practitioner. The two met while attending New Hampshire College. “Anne is the most unique, brilliant, beautiful, and selfless person I know,” Bienvenue states. “She is also a great mom.”
Anne, Zac, and Ani are Bienvenue’s greatest joys in life. After them . . . bread.
Kathleen Downey is the Features Editor for Newburyport Today. If you are a townie or a citizen who would like to be profiled (or to suggest someone to profile), please email: Kathleen@Newburyport-Today.com.
