Brackenridge's Vibo's Bakery hopes to make some dough at pop-up market

Dino “Vibo” Lopreiato will wake at 4 a.m. Saturday and start baking bread.

His 86-year-old father, Giuseppe, will have been in the kitchen for an hour or longer already, kneading dough and preheating the ovens.

They will be prepping for the day ahead.

The elder Lopreiato will bake items to sell at Vibo’s Italian Bakery in Brackenridge.

The younger one will pack up products for the I Made It! Market event later that morning at The Block Northway in Ross.

Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

More than 80 local artists will showcase their wares at the pop-up marketplace.

“I get to see a variety of people at The Block Northway,” Dino Lopreiato said. “I am so happy to be able to bring our products to this event. It’s from a truly authentic Italian bakery. The product sells itself.”

It really does, agrees Carrie Nardini, who founded I Made It! Market in 2007 as a way to connect with small and local businesses throughout the year. The markets offer handcrafted goods and connects makers with the community at various times and locations throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Nardini said Vibo’s is definitely a destination.

“You will see shoppers start with coffee and a Vibo’s paczki or raisin bun to fuel their shopping,” she said. “It’s not uncommon for Dino to run out of pepperoni rolls. People will leave with bags full to take home to their family.”

The family business is what makes Vibo’s special, Dino Lopreiato said, starting with his father, Giuseppe, and mother, Mary, 83.

The son plans to bring pepperoni bread with provolone cheese, fried dough with sugar on the outside, and Paczki, a Polish pastry. He also will bring crusty Italian breads, sweet bread, hot cross buns and pizzelles — anise, vanilla, chocolate and almond. Most of his products sell out before the event closes, so he advises people to stop by in the morning.

He said the job can be tiring, but the reward comes in the form of smiles when customers first taste the bread.

“I tell them I just made it all by hand,” he said. “There are no preservatives.”

He said Nardini and her crew are well organized.

“She appreciates how things are made by hand,” he said. “And so do I. That’s why I like being part of the event because I get to see so many creative items other people have made. You get to meet the person who made it.”