Local Flavor: Gluten-free bakery and familiar Italian food

Following a gluten-free diet doesn’t mean you have to miss out on delicious baked goods. A new gluten-free bakery has opened in Saco’s downtown.

Sweets & Co is opening today, Friday, Oct. 18, at 294 Main St.

Owner Lorraine Fagela celebrated the opening on Wednesday with a ribbon cutting. Fagela is also the creator of Hand and Heart gluten free flour. As someone who is allergic to gluten, she found she couldn’t recreate many items with the gluten-free flours on the market.

“I developed my own flour blend because everything out there didn’t satisfy the need,” she said.

Hand and Heart gluten-free flour is the result of many years of work, and Fagela uses it in all the baked goods she makes and sells at Sweets & Co, including focaccia slabs, artisan bread and bagels. The signature item is cinnamon rolls with a soft texture that she said is just like a traditional cinnamon roll.

“We’re kind of like the unicorn of gluten-free foods,” she said.

Fagela also sells Hand and Heart flour at the bakery, and plans to teach cooking classes. Going gluten-free can be a difficult journey, and she wants to share her knowledge to others who can’t tolerate gluten, she said.

“My goal is to make gluten-free eating easy and accessible for everyone,” said Fagela.

Sweets & Co. offers lattes and boba tea in addition to baked items. Hours this week are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Anjon’s

John DiSanto has reopened his family’s Italian restaurant, Anjon’s Ristorante, at 521 Route One in Scarborough.

The name of the restaurant comes from DiSanto’s grandparents, Ann and John, and the family ran the restaurant for 65 years before closing in 2019. When the restaurant that replaced Anjon’s closed and the space at 521 Route One became available again, DiSanto started a fundraising campaign to reopen Anjon’s.

“I thought I was done with the restaurant business. All the things I thought I hated I actually missed,” he said. “It feels like I’m home.”

DiSanto uses recipes that are over 150 years old and have been handed down over generations.

“I learned how to make sauce when I was 10,” he said.

DiSanto has streamlined the menu to include only Italian items.

“Everything on the menu are the things we sold a lot of and were good at. Everything you get here will be top shelf,” he said.

The restaurant opened a few weeks ago, serving dinner only, and so far, the response has been very good, said DiSanto.

“It’s like they’ve found their home too,” he said.

Anjon’s is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5-9 p.m. and Sunday from 5-8 p.m.

Liz Gotthelf is the publisher of Saco Bay News. She also loves to eat and support local businesses. If you have any local restaurant or food news, she’d love to hear from you. Send her an email at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.