Isabella Bonello Takes On the World

Seated on a plush red sofa is Isabella Bonello, the one-woman show behind the home baking business Three Bites Bakery. But she is more than just a baker; she is a Muay Thai martial arts enthusiast, a daughter of immigrants and a pursuer of dreams.

Her journey into the realm of baking is an unconventional one. Graduating from Ohio State University with dual degrees in psychology and Italian, she felt out of place in the corporate world. She had dreams of opening up her own bakery, so she honed her skills in jobs at local businesses: North Star Café, Fox in the Snow, Pistacia Vera and even the L Brands corporate café. Her aim was to develop something she believed was missing in the city: a bakery without limitations.

Starting as a side business in 2019 and blossoming to a full-time home bakery, Three Bites was born from the attention to the craft and creativity that comes with baking. With no defined limitations or signature style, it offers to Columbus residents items that are both familiar and approachable, but with a hint of adventure in trying something new. Its menu, featuring treats that can be eaten in about three bites and taken on the go, is continually changing. Like the city itself, the bakery is the culmination of cultures and experiences.

With inspiration from her Filipino and Italian heritage, Bonello creates treats that provide a sense of traveling the world. A warm bite of a freshly baked ube pandesal with cheese could transport you onto the bustling streets of the Philippines. A bite of a sugar-dusted bomboloni, as creamy and sweet custard drips down the side, might carry you into the Italian countryside. A taste of the crispy brown butter citrus shortbread could whisk you away to a European café. Upon request, Bonello also creates custom cakes that become a form of art.

The biggest lesson has been learning to trust her instincts and believing in herself. Managing a home bakery in the midst of a pandemic has been no cakewalk. “Not having separation between where you work and where you live is such a challenge. There’s no point where you get to decompress on your way home from work,” she said. “But everyone has to start from somewhere. It’s been nice to see [the business] being built from the ground up.”

Top left: One of Bonello’s custom cakes; Top right: Inspiration for her specialty treats comes from all over the world; Bottom: During the pandemic, this side business became a full-time home bakery.

Looking to the future, she plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop this summer at 999 Mt. Vernon Ave. in the King-Lincoln neighborhood. “I’m looking forward to my home to be my home and my kitchen to be my kitchen again,” she said.

But when asked about how she is doing given all the events that have happened this past year, and especially during the past couple of months, she pauses. 

“It’s such a layered topic. At least for me, I’ve always struggled with my own cultural identity being mixed and it adds a layer of complexity to the conversation. But then to know that someone can hate me just because of what I look like, it’s scary. And being a female Asian business owner, it’s hard not to feel apprehension. [These attacks] could have happened to me. And that is hard to reconcile. I worry about my mom. I worry about my family that lives in California. Those Filipino grandpas that were attacked, they sound like my grandfather. And how do you not take that personally? And all this is still happening during the Black Lives Matter movement. There’s no good answer to all this. ... None of this makes sense,” she says.

She adds, “I’m the product of immigrants. Most of us are. This country is built from immigrants. And growing up, we all just wanted to fit in. But in immigrant populations, cooking was such an integral part of passing along traditions and culture. For us, eating was ceremonial in a way. You come together over food.”

Her bakery is a new link in that cultural tradition. “I always felt so different from other people. And that became more apparent when I moved [from California] to Columbus. Culture shock for sure,” she said. “It’s only been now through Three Bites Bakery that I’ve become more connected to my culture and heritage and have been able to share it with others.”

To Bonello, a bakery is a happy place. “I want to create a space where people can feel a little bit of joy during their day. I feel fulfilled and content by bringing joy and creating experiences for people through this craft and through these treats.”  

For her, the first bite of a Three Bites Bakery treat “means everything.”

“When someone tries my stuff for the first time, and seeing people who are return customers, it means the world to me. To see people believe in me, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right. Food was always such a cornerstone of my upbringing. So I’d like to be able to share that with people. And it’s a good feeling.”

• Learn more about the business, see the menu and order online at threebitesbakery.com.