25 March 20th-March 26th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | FULL BAR! BILLS OF $50 OR MORE Dine-In or Take Out Not Including Combinations Dinner Only Expires 12/31/25 Closed On Tuesdays $5 OFF 2050 N. Alma School Rd., #36 • 480.857.4188 great when toasted with some butter…can I share with you a couple of notes?” Cano took the chef’s tips to heart. He made his starter stronger, kneaded the dough longer and tinkered with moisture levels. Soon, he was leaping into his first big sale, of more than 20 loaves at Sander’s Coffee Company in Heber. He was, for the first time, officially in business. “Andres is a friend and a badass, and I love the passion he puts into his project,” Smith says. “He genuinely lights up when he’s sharing it and is getting better and better each batch.” Cano kept dabbling. He now has 14 rotating sourdough recipes, including a Columbia chorizo loaf with queso Columbiano, a Greek loaf with olives, sun- dried tomatoes and feta, a muffuletta loaf, a loaf with brie and nuts, a rosemary garlic loaf, a raisin cinnamon brown sugar loaf and holiday season cranberry walnut and pumpkin spice loaves. “I keep a strong starter,” Cano says. “I don’t have a name for it like some bakers do, but it’s my baby, and it definitely has to be taken care of. I feed it daily, just to make sure it is strong and punchy.” If you want to hear Cano nerd out, get him talking about his pepperoni loaf or his jalapeno cheddar loaf. “The pepperoni is very much like a calzone or a good slice — crusty dough with a soft give, loaded with cheese, pep, herbs, and red pepper flakes,” he says. “The jalapeno cheddar is just a perfect combina- tion. The sweet heat of the jalapenos brings out the punch and the cheddar leaves this amazing cheesy crust that just amplified it.” Cano charges $8 for his “OG” plain loaf and up to $18 for the specialty flavors. He sources local, organic ingredients when- ever possible. It only takes him a couple of weeks to burn through 100 pounds of Elevated Red Fife Flour, made by Gilbert’s own Hayden Flour Mills. As Cano’s baking expanded, his profile followed. Bryan Soto, a Phoenix food influ- encer who posts as Señor Foodie, met Cano through events Smith threw. But at first, he didn’t realize the source of the sourdough at Smith’s parties. “Finally I broke down and asked if it was cool if I sampled some of the pizza loaf,” Soto says. “I was blown away. I asked LT where he bought the stuff, and he just pointed to Andres. His flavors, his creativity, his attention to detail — he’s really doing something cool with the bread. It has this wonderful snappy crust, crunchy outside and that soft interior. It’s great bread.” Soon Soto was sharing Cano’s bakes with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. In a flash, Cano went from 35 customers to 70. If you want to try his bread, you still have to seek him out. He isn’t selling in supermarkets, or even at scale. He’s still making every loaf at home, for a small number of customers. And he rather enjoys it that way. “Bread makes people happy — it’s just a perfect thing,” Cano says. “And my bread, with my Colombian heritage, with my influences, it connects people to my life and mine to theirs. In that sense, breaking bread is really bringing people together. And that is divine.” Andres Candough’s most popular bakes, the Pizza Sourdough and Jalapeno Cheddar, are made fresh on pick-up days with all-organic ingredients. (Andres Cano) Andres Candough’s Doughvine Jalapeno Chedder loaf. (Andres Cano) A Bread Above from p 24
