Against the grain
Bryan Fine, owner of Mission Road Foods, stands in his bakery that delivers fresh bread throughout Brevard County. TOM WILBY
Local bakery is committed to an old-fashioned kind of goodness
Loaves of white and rye bread made intentionally nutritious sit on racks ready to provide customers with an affordable kitchen staple. BRYAN FINE
When one of Bryan Fine’s childhood best friends, Alex Molina, told him that their go-to pizza joint was hiring, Fine grabbed the opportunity. Bianca Pizza in Tallahassee was a staple for the college roommates Fine and Molina, who enjoyed the restaurant’s delicious food — all made in house — at affordable prices.
Fine didn’t realize that his first shift, learning to make pizza dough, would change the trajectory of his life entirely. “That was it — day one,” Fine said. “I’m like, ‘This is it. This is my life. I want to do this every day. Someone’s going to have to kill me to stop me from doing this.’”
Fine continued his career in the service industry, immersing himself in learning everything he could about baking bread, to polish his own craft and recipe. Friends and family provided feedback on his early trials. He eventually brought his polished recipe to the public through a Facebook post, offering fresh sourdough bread delivery during the pandemic.
Four years later Fine no longer operates his bread service out of his apartment but instead runs his own bakery. Mission Road Foods opened on U.S. Highway 1 in Melbourne last December. His company prides itself on producing a more nutritious bread by using whole grains and high-grade, simple ingredients that have not been chemically altered, along with a long fermentation process.
“I don’t see myself as a businessman,” Fine said. “I see myself as a baker.”
With his two-man team, he is in the relentless pursuit of great bread making. His deep love for the culinary arts includes the positive impact that high-quality, intentionally made food brings to the community.
Fine works in the bakery’s kitchen, preparing to shape burger buns from raw dough. TOM WILBY
COMMITMENT TO QUALITY
With its eye-catching storefront, Mission Road Foods opened in December 2024 and is located at 416 N. Harbor City Blvd. in Melbourne. TOM WILBY
Bread wasn’t always made to last for weeks. But mass-produced bread still includes preservatives that were designed to make bread palatable — not delicious or nutritious — for longer periods, for soldiers in WWI. That sensibility has prevailed in grocery store aisles, to this day.
“I just don’t think it’s acceptable for a society to not care what it eats,” Fine said. Instead, he is committed to making “the bread our ancestors ate for thousands of years,” at an affordable price.
“I can make something that is actually good — maybe delicious — and beneficial for you, and it’s not a luxury good,” he said.
Fine’s journey started with cultivating a deep understanding of the history, process and product, all of which guided him as he tested recipes and played with different variables. This practice — experimenting with food to share with others and listening to feedback — has stayed consistent, as Fine evolves and his recipes improve.
“He’s constantly working on the recipes and trying to come up with new things to do,” Morgan Bunch, another childhood friend of Fine’s, said.
Fine’s team includes a good friend, Kristen Warren, who drives on delivery days. Mission Road Foods delivery areas include much of central Brevard County: Palm Bay to Rockledge, Melbourne Beach to the Pineda Causeway, and Merritt Island between Mathers and Pineda causeways.
Apart from savory flavors, Fine offers sweeter tastes, like the strawberry breakfast loaves about to be placed in the oven. TOM WILBY
FROM SCRATCH
Molina calls Fine’s evolution “a crazy level of refinement.” The two have come a long way since their days sharing a duplex on Mission Road in Tallahassee, where Fine would experiment with dollar store pizza dough and whatever toppings he could find in their kitchen.
“Every single project, whether it’s an entire restaurant or a single dish, goes from conception to reality in the hands of the people involved,” Fine said. “It’s really satisfying to build things.”
During the pandemic, when Fine began offering sourdough bread delivery on Facebook, it took only three months for his post to make its way to a Florida Today foodie page — and demand exploded. Just three months after that — and with great support from close friends and family — Fine began baking full-time, fulfilling his ambition to provide a high quality, affordable local bread option.
Bunch and his wife, Thalia, brought Fine’s vision to life as multimedia freelancers who helped with the branding of his business. The name Mission Road Foods is a tribute to the duplex where it all began, as well as Fine’s memories and strong bonds with his supporters.
OPEN HOUSE
Fine keeps consistent favorite flavors in rotation, like his classic butter blond, while continuing to introduce new creations. TOM WILBY
As business scaled up, working out of Fine’s apartment became unfeasible. Moving to the bakery’s current 1,200-square-foot
space elevated Fine’s operation and provided more opportunities to connect with customers. “It’s been really cool to get to know my little slice of Melbourne,” he said.
Whether they caught a waft of fresh bread or were next door supporting Fine’s local business neighbors at The Copper Dog, Space Mermaid Tattoo or Del’s Freez, new customers continuously pop into the shop. Fine always makes sure they leave with something.
“Everybody comes in here for the first time once and then, the next time, they’re going to their friend’s bread shop,” Fine said.
Beyond bread Fine sells a soup of the week and recently introduced chili sauces. He looks forward to a growing future and is fueled by the challenge of his larger corporate competitors. “Coming from nonexistence to trying to prove to people that what you do is legit and worth spending money on is tough,” Fine said. “I think the biggest challenge for me is just staying committed to the quality as stuff gets more and more expensive.”
