Rick and Michael Mast. Confections and other gourmet goods at Mast Brothers. KATE JORDAN Photos
By ROBERT BRUM
Rick and Michael Mast molded their reputation as chocolate makers in Brooklyn, but they’re finding Bedford’s small-town vibe pretty sweet, too.
The bearded brothers — known among the confectionary cognoscenti as flag-bearers of the bean-to-bar movement — arrived in town some 10 years ago with their young families and now live just a short walk apart.
“Our oldest was getting into kindergarten, and I grew up in a much smaller town,” Rick Mast said recently. “And we loved Bedford, always loved Bedford. It’s beautiful countryside, great schools, lots of young families, and we fell in love with a house.”
The siblings formally debuted Mast Market, located at 1 Court Road, Bedford, in early November, a year after a fire destroyed the Mount Kisco shop they had operated since 2019.
They’ve taken space formerly occupied by The Outpost, expanded the kitchen and coffee bar, and added shelving and refrigeration to accommodate everything from household items to locally sourced meats and produce, to their signature organic coffee and chocolates. The outdoor courtyard has been given a makeover, as well.
The market’s full kitchen and bakery serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Joshua Capone, formerly chef de cuisine at Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant, has been brought in to preside over a menu that ranges from bacon, egg and cheese and focaccia sandwiches, to seasonal fare like soups and stews.
“He’s the husband of our longtime pastry chef, Sarah Capone,” Rick Mast said. “We’ve been trying to get him to work for us for years. He brings such expertise and passion for local ingredients.”
The new owners are keen to preserve the spot’s pedigree as a gathering place for locals. “We’ve gotten to know a lot of the previous families that actually ran Stewart’s Market many decades back, so the layout is essentially the same and the role it plays in the community’s essentially the same,” Rick Mast said. “We just kind of cleaned everything up and put on our own stamps.”
The response has been overwhelming, he said in mid-December.“It’s been such a busy, busy community-hub-type feel, which was something we were always hoping for but weren’t necessarily counting on,” Rick Mast said. “It’s been that way from day one.
Bedford’s resident lifestyle guru has stopped by, but Rick Mast is not into name-dropping. “We are a discreet place welcome to all. It’s a place I want people to feel comfortable going to, no matter how much of a public figure they are.”
Strategic partnerships
The brothers (Rick is 48, three years older than Michael), began making chocolate in their Brooklyn apartment in 2006, quitting their day jobs and formally launching their company a year later. Their market on Manhattan’s Upper West Side opened in 2021.The chance to relocate the shop to their hometown was one bright spot following the devastating loss of the Mount Kisco shop in October 2023. The blaze claimed not only their retail business, but also their chocolate manufacturing, bakery, coffee roasting operation, and the jams and nut butters that were being made on premises.
That led the Masts to form a series of partnerships to produce the brothers’ signature products using their ingredients and profiles. Cocoa beans are shipped to an organic chocolate factory in Massachusetts, coffee beans are roasted at Irving Farm in Millerton, and jams and preserves come by way of Beth’s Farm Kitchen in Old Chatham.
Supporting local producers is a major focus. Like John Ubaldo, aka “John Boy,” formerly of The Outpost, whose sausages and steaks are available at the market, and newcomer, Brian Mansour, whose Turtle Rock Farm in Bedford has been supplying ginger, turmeric, peppers, tomatoes, dried flowers and herbs.
“We think acting local and thinking local solves a lot of problems,” Mast said.
Destination Downtown
Brett Cameron, president of the Bedford Village Business Association, described Mast Market as “a country market that you would hope would be in a town like Bedford.”
She added, “It’s just nice to be able to sit and have a coffee and meet someone and talk. “It’s one of the few places we have to sit down and eat.”
Cameron, a partner in the event planning company La Maison Fête, said the Masts join a host of newcomers during the past few years, complementing established businesses like Consider the Cook and the Horse Connection.
This new wave is helping to turn the village into a destination, Rick Mast said.
“It’s not just about us, but with oHHo, La Maison Fête, Bedford Books across the street,” he said. “Of course, you have the Playhouse, which is always having new and exciting things, and Rivay, which is a relatively new men’s store that’s attracting so many people to the village.”
Rick Mast added, “The village, which I think for a while had been almost more of a historical, sleepy village that you looked at but didn’t go to, is now just a vibrant place to just engage with and shop and meet up with friends.”