Couple brings former Latrobe bakery back to life as farm-to-table restaurant

Hungry visitors who arrive at 335 Main St. in Latrobe are greeted by a familiar name, Mailey’s, spelled out on the tile flooring and an overhead sign.

Inside they’ll find something new: a casual dining experience where there had been a bakery for many years and, more recently, a cafe.

The building’s historic appeal attracted Adam and Nancy Flood when they were searching last year for a place to open their own restaurant. That interest carried through when they decided to call their restaurant Mailey’s Provisions, keeping alive the name of the family whose bakery preceded them.

“We love the building and the history behind it,” said Adam Flood, who grew up in Maine. “It was a bakery since the 1890s.”

Citing some of the famed icons that got their start in the Latrobe area, he said, “We fell in love with the town, too. You can’t go wrong when you’ve got Arnold Palmer, Mister Rogers and the banana split.”

Mailey’s Provisions is one of the newest additions to Latrobe’s downtown business district — along with Artemis Supports, which serves clients with intellectual disabilities or autism, and the Garment Gallery, recently added to the retail options at The Paper Heart building.

The Floods held a May 23 open house at their restaurant and began regular service two days later.

A chef with fine dining experience, including at several James Beard Award-winning restaurants in New England, Adam Flood said Mailey’s Provisions is focusing on “real food in a relaxed atmosphere.”

“Farm-to-table is really important to us,” said Nancy Flood, a Quebec native who brings her experience as a baker.

Chicken sourced from Savage Mountain Farm in Somerset County is served in the restaurant’s pot pies, and the short ribs are from Hempfield’s Logan Family Farms.

“We braise our short ribs for 24 hours,” Adam Flood said. He added that the entree is served with Pomme Robuchon, a take on mashed potatoes created by a noted French chef.

“It’s the best mashed potatoes you’ve ever had in your life,” he said. “For every three potatoes, there’s a pound of butter.”

Sandwiches and other lunch items will join the restaurant’s full menu, which includes Maine oysters. The dessert menu features the couple’s own version of the banana split, built around banana-stuffed pastry.

The restaurant has seating for 30 diners and is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. The couple said they appreciate the extensive renovations completed by the building’s previous owner, John Baran, including restoration of the ornate wooden facade.

But Nancy Flood, who also has worked as an interior designer, said there is still more work to do. “We’re working at it slowly, fixing the bricks and changing the windows,” she said.

Garment Gallery

On June 6, The Paper Heart will celebrate its second anniversary doing business at 807 Ligonier St. Owners Emily and Greg Pasqualino rent an Airbnb as well as several spaces for events such as birthdays and showers.

In mid-March, they added the Garment Gallery to their retail lines — which also include home goods, gifts, jewelry, floral items and party supplies.

“We added apparel to our offerings,” said Emily Pasqualino. “It complements everything else we have, and I really enjoy doing it.”

“We’ve had a great deal of people come in and purchase vintage clothing, and we have new clothing as well. We have a little something for everybody, at different price points.”

The store stocks a mix of dresses, tops and shorts from various eras. Some are obtained through a partnership with Junie Moon Vintage.

“The vintage pieces are graded and have research done on them,” Pasqualino said. “Some of them from the ’50s and ’60s haven’t had the price tags removed.”

Pasqualino’s own vintage collection leans more toward 1980s styles.

“We also have vintage bags and belts,” she said.

Other “pre-loved” consignment clothing represents a range of style periods.

For contemporary fashions, Pasqualino selects from the collections of other businesses.

“We pride ourselves on working with smaller businesses to curate the items we carry,” she said.

Shoppers can visit the Garment Gallery and The Paper Heart’s other retail areas 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Summer Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Artemis Supports

CEO Julie Bisi formed Artemis Supports in 2019, working from an office in her Latrobe home after working in support services since 2014.

Also, she said, “I quickly began to realize that, despite the number of provider agencies within (Westmoreland County), there were still so many individuals in need of supports.”

In forming her own small service company, Bisi called upon her business management degree and her former work teaching at Latrobe’s Christ The Divine Teacher School. One of her past students became her first employee.

“We hit a growth spurt last summer, and it was really kind of crucial that we expand,” she said, noting she now has a staff of 13 serving 18 adult clients.

In November, she leased an office space at 813 Ligonier St. that previously housed a local blood draw facility. She recently held a grand opening celebration for the main floor area, which is devoted to socialization opportunities for clients.

“The majority of the people we support love coming in here,” Bisi said. “It’s 100% what they want to do, and we’re there to facilitate it.”

She said clients like to socialize with each other, work on art projects, make jigsaw puzzles and play card games. A client who studied horticulture tends plants that thrive in the office’s storefront.

Bisi promotes game nights when she invites members of the public to come in and play Uno or other favorite games with clients. “Inclusion is a huge part of what I do,” she said.

Based on clients’ needs, Artemis also assists with basic skills needed for daily living and to land and hold a job.

The basement level of the office is a work in progress. Bisi is tapping $20,000 in pandemic recovery funding to develop and outfit a technology room for the use of both staff and clients who may need to complete resumes and research job opportunities.

Other goals include creating an exercise space and a kitchen and laundry room where clients can work on their living skills.

“I want to get them comfortable with exercise equipment and then get them out into the community,” Bisi said.

Visit artemissupports.com for more information.