Rachael Colasanto first started baking in a tiny kitchen in her New York apartment.
She would craft her crispy yet fluffy focaccia on a long wooden table, made special by her partner Zak Boucetta.
This table is where they sat and enjoyed dinner, but also where they’d diligently pinch dough, making sure it had the perfect dimples for their customers.
It was this special table that marked the start of Holy Focaccia.
A couple years later, the couple made the big move to the desert. While they didn’t bring the wooden table with them, Holy Focaccia luckily survived the move to Tucson.
It was in their new house where Holy Focaccia evolved again, becoming sort of like a bootleg café.
On Sunday mornings, 40-50 hungry customers would come in and out of their backyard, looking to pick up Colasanto’s coveted focaccia bread. From breakfast sandwiches to pouring coffee using a single-serve Moka pot, the couple created a spot that brought the community together.
Rachael Colasanto, owner of Holy Focaccia, chats with a customer at the weekly Santa Cruz River Farmers Market in February 2023.
From there, Holy Focaccia grew. You could catch Colasanto at local markets, where the bright-red banner and aroma of fresh, warm bread hypnotize those walking by.
Like the couple years prior, it was time again for Holy Focaccia to evolve.
Boucetta, who made the wooden table where it all started, is now designing Holy Focaccia’s first brick-and-mortar where customers can stop by for homemade goodies without having to anxiously refresh Instagram to find out where Colasanto will be for the day.
By the end of the year, the couple will have created a cozy, inviting café inside of Slow Body Beer, located at 831 E. 17th St., bringing along the focaccia, tiramisu and panini we’ve all come to know and love.
Rachael Colasanto, owner of Holy Focaccia, places her dough into trays while working in a commissary kitchen at Brick Box Brewery on Feb. 25.
“It's been more than just a business,” Boucetta said. “It became like, just a way of life. It’s the way we met people, and how people met us.”
While working in marketing in New York, Colasanto needed a creative outlet. She got to work in her tiny kitchen, looking up recipes online and learning how to bake.
Her first focaccia made its debut at a party that Boucetta was throwing for friends. She placed her golden-brown bread on the table along with the other finger foods and let her friends enjoy.
It was a hit. Compliments on Colasanto’s creation filled the room, with Boucetta urging her to start selling her bread — even going as far as messaging everyone he knew to share the good news: Holy Focaccia is up and running.
Find homemade focaccia in Tucson at Rachael Colasanto’s bakery, Holy Focaccia.
“I started with a recipe online and was like, oh, this is interesting,” Colasanto said. “Then, I think with any baking recipe, you start tearing it apart, like changing the flour, or I like it saltier and I really like this olive oil. Baking and cooking is always something that's come naturally to me. It's been something that I've done for most of my life. I love to play in the kitchen.”
It was when the couple moved to Tucson in 2021 when Holy Focaccia really began to grow. Colasanto began baking full-time and, eventually, adding more goodies to the menu like breakfast sandwiches and olive oil cakes.
“When I think about what I want to make, I think about the foods that I like to eat or foods that are nostalgic to me,” Colasanto said.
Rachael Colasanto, owner of Holy Focaccia, places a dollop of strawberry jam on top of an almond torte.
It’s hard not to be drawn to the beautiful dishes she makes. Cakes decorated with dollops of frosting where intricately placed fruits and elegant flowers lay on top, mouthwatering pressed panini inspired by the ones they devoured at Italian gas stations made with perfectly browned focaccia and spongy tiramisu dusted in cocoa powder are pictured on their Instagram, leaving those who scroll through with their mouths agape.
“I think my style of focaccia is more like a Southern Italian focaccia, mine is a bit more bready,” Colasanto said. “It's an olive oil bread, so you're baking with a ton of oil. There's oil in the dough, there's oil on the pan and there's oil on top, so you kind of get this crispy exterior with a really light interior. I find it's very versatile, it's great for panini or it's good for dipping in soups and when it dries out, you turn it into croutons.”
Colasanto had always envisioned creating her own café. In fact, it seems like it was written in the stars for the couple: not only is Boucetta an architect, but the both of them have a fondness for the small cafés and eateries you’d see in Europe. They want to create something where people can stand around and enjoy each other’s company while nibbling on delicious, home-baked treats.
Their vision started to take shape when they were introduced to one of the owners of Slow Body Beer, Lawrence Combs, at a Christmas party. The front of the brewery was empty, and they agreed a Holy Focaccia café was the perfect way to occupy it.
“I love the concept of an all-day café, closing for a few hours in the afternoon and reopening later with wine and small plates,” Colasanto said. “I think the way that we envision the space is just somewhere where it's familiar when you go in and you can linger and hang out. You're going to get to know the people that work at Holy Focaccia, and they're going to get to know you.”
Boucetta will be in charge of designing the new café, which will include a long counter where people can hang out, talk to one another, enjoy their food and watch the staff work their magic in the kitchen. The place with be enveloped in warm, rich colors, making those who enter feel like they’ve stepped into a cozy wonderland.
“I love the American diners, especially the old ones, and the way the service felt, and the way the menu was and the way you were served,” Boucetta said. “I think we want to, if anything, pay homage to that in our own way.”
Hopefully by the end of the year, the space that the couple would regularly walk by with their dog will be Holy Focaccia’s permanent home, and they'll finally get the chance to bring the place they’ve envisioned for so long to life.
“Holy Focaccia has always been on the go,” Colasanto said. “It's always been like packing up a car, moving here, shopping here, and I'm really excited to settle in and just work from our own space.”
