{"id":19899,"date":"2025-10-30T17:21:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/19899\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T17:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:21:05","slug":"from-lino-bakery-opens-in-bethlehem-the-brown-and-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/19899\/","title":{"rendered":"From Lino Bakery Opens in Bethlehem- The Brown and White"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Melanie Lino traded her dental tools for mixing bowls, she didn\u2019t expect baking to become her life\u2019s work. What started as a hobby in her kitchen turned into a passion, and soon, a business rooted in Dominican tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lino previously co-owned Lit Coffee Roastery & Bakeshop on East Third Street for several years but sold her stake in 2023 to pursue her own business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her newest venture, From Lino, a Dominican-European fusion bakery and market, is set to open at 802 Spring St. in North Bethlehem at the end of October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lino said the environment at Lit Coffee was collaborative and allowed everyone to work to their strengths, but she didn\u2019t have enough room for personal growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past couple of years, she worked to build a financially stable operation of her own. During that time, Lino baked out of Dragonfly Hill Farm in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania and sold her goods at pop-up events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rebecca Buhler, a strategic operations guide for From Lino, said she joined Lit Coffee as a barista in 2018 before moving into the kitchen. When Lino resigned, Buhler decided to join her venture as the bakery\u2019s strategic operations planner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Buhler said Lino fosters a positive environment that encourages learning through trial and error.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful to be part of it and to be able to witness (Lino) curate this awesome, beautiful community space,\u201d Buhler said.<\/p>\n

In September, the National Honey Board recognized Lino as one of the top 20 bakers of sustainable, honey-sweetened baked goods in support of the Honey Saves Hives Program<\/a>, a campaign that raises awareness about preserving honey bees and the food ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Melanie Lino, owner and founder of From Lino, blends Dominican and European flavors in her new bakery opening in North Bethlehem. Rooted in sustainability and community, her business reflects a deep connection to her culture and craft. (Courtesy of Petra Somers)<\/p>\n

Lino practices sustainability as one of her core business principles by eliminating single-use plastics and regularly composting through partnerships with local farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a financially insecure household raised by immigrants, so sustainability was just a way of life for us,\u201d Lino said. \u201cIt just naturally became part of how I conduct business too.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the honey-sweetened goods, the bakery will also feature vegan items, including puff pastry, walnut bread and \u201cpan de batata,\u201d a Dominican sweet potato bread. Savory breads and pastries, including baked pastelitos, which are modified with puff pastry instead of traditionally fried dough, will also be on the menu.<\/p>\n

Lino said while some members of the older generation may turn their noses at her nontraditional dishes, others have embraced her celebration of Dominican culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jessica Tsu, a former Lit Coffee regular who became an employee there in 2021, trained under Lino and Buhler. She said Lino\u2019s pop-up shop was one of her favorite destinations in the Lehigh Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a person of color, I felt like her bakeshop was one of my favorite food destinations in the Lehigh Valley,\u201d Tsu said. \u201cIt was kind of hard to find that quality of diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said she\u2019s excited to see Lino open her own bakery and that she\u2019s deserving of all of the attention she gets, hoping her momentum will continue.<\/p>\n

In May, From Lino participated in an annual spring plant sale hosted by The Seed Farm, a nonprofit in the Lehigh Valley, where the bakery\u2019s team interacted with familiar customers from Lit Coffee and From Lino.<\/p>\n

Buhler said that was her first time joining Lino on-site rather than working behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see people who like stuff on the internet, and it\u2019s really great, but having those interactions in person make it so meaningful and special,\u201d Buhler said.<\/p>\n

Even though these moments make running a small business rewarding, Lino said it isn\u2019t always glamorous, especially when balancing life as a full-time business owner and a mother.<\/p>\n

Lino said she\u2019s able to adjust her business around her child, but it\u2019s easy to lose sight of herself in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne financially sustains me and fuels my passion and my purpose,\u201d she said. \u201cThe other one is my human being that I am hoping to raise to be a solid person in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Lino said being both a mother and a business owner are very important parts of her life, driving her to work hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ahead of the bakery\u2019s opening, Buhler said she\u2019s excited for its doors to open so the public can experience everything From Lino\u2019s team has been working on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready to just go full steam ahead and support in whatever way I can to open this business and keep it thriving,\u201d Buhler said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Melanie Lino traded her dental tools for mixing bowls, she didn\u2019t expect baking to become her life\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[5877,119,121,120,153,1197],"class_list":{"0":"post-19899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-4-minute-read","9":"tag-allentown","10":"tag-allentown-headlines","11":"tag-allentown-news","12":"tag-bethlehem","13":"tag-feature"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}