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Proof Bread

Proof Bread's pastries and baked goods offer all of the Old World artisan, fresh-baked goodness from Phoenix. 

Like all new business owners, Jared Allen was looking for his place in the world.

Specifically, Allen was looking for a space that could be a home away from house, so to speak — a house that’s been home to his growing pastry and baking business, Proof Bread, since day one.

Back then, it was merely a hopeful hobby and an Instagram page that gained attention from a little — OK, pretty big — recognition as a finalist in Martha Stewart’s 2014 American Made awards. That’s how many great things are so often born, aren’t they? Hobbies that overfloweth.

Proof Bread’s Jared Allen. Photo by Mark Lipczynski.

Indeed, one need not assume that the demand for freshly baked goods — the good stuff, you know, properly-made croissants in a city with too little of them — is outpacing what a Mesa home, a wife and five growing kids can fit. Luckily for Allen, an opportunity has opened up.

“I’ll have a retail home, be able to up my production and expand my selection, and I’ll be able to maintain my existing outlets, all within biking distance of my home,” Allen says. “My heart is in the East Valley and I desperately want it to be great.”

In a new space, Allen has stepped things up a notch. Not is he showcasing his baked goods, he's even added a local delivery service and community classes.

“I’ll be selling pastries and breads, simits (circular bread encrusted with sesame or other types of seeds), kolaches, English muffins, and more," Allen says. “I’ve been working on some new recipes that I’m very excited about, too. We won’t be doing pizza just yet, but we hope to add that in the future.”

Allen’s pastries are still being served at the Mesa and Gilbert farmer’s markets, Bergies Coffee in downtown Gilbert, and at Peixoto Coffee Roasters in downtown Chandler. There you can usually find a pan au chocolate on the menu that’s different from many you may encounter. It’s naturally leaved, meaning he uses no commercial yeast to raise his dough—just time and the “little things” in life.

The benefit, he’ll point out, is better flavor above all else, a complexity and a sense of terroir. So if finding a good pan au chocolate in the East Valley was always the goal, it’s already a reality.

Note: Proof Bread is also now open at Main Street Harvest, A Community Grocer, 121 W. Main Street, Mesa.

Proof Bread Bakery
125 W. Main St., Mesa
480-270-8320