In a discreet corner of Milan, hidden behind a shop window with no flashy signs, lies the smallest bakery in Europe: just 8.87 square meters. It is here that Matteo Trapasso kneads, bakes, and shares his idea of bread and the world every day. TraMa is much more than a micro-bakery: it is a manifesto of radical craftsmanship, a workshop in plain sight where everything is visible to those who enter. And where bread becomes a living narrative, made from carefully selected grains, slow fermentations, and human relationships. In this interview, he told us how a revolution is built one dough at a time.
I produce and sell in a small space of 8.87 square meters.
What is a micro-bakery?
A micro bakery is, as the word itself says, a small bakery. Specifically, this is a bakery of 8.87 square meters, so less than 9 square meters; this is where I produce and sell sourdough bread with long fermentation made from organically grown stone-milled flours, focaccia, baked cakes, and milk buns. Micro because I produce and sell in a small space of 8.87 square meters.
How did your passion for baking begin?
My passion started in 2015, when I was 17 years old and working in a Swedish restaurant in Milan, Björk, where I made sliced bread in Danish open sandwiches, the smørrebrød. It was love at first sight; I started making bread there and have never stopped.
Which work experiences have influenced and shaped you?
After school, I worked for a year in a bakery in Monza, Forno Del Mastro, where I made sourdough bread, and that's where I took my first steps and became interested in a type of natural fermentation baking. Then I spent a few months in another bakery, this time in Milan, where I made bread with ancient Sicilian grains. Subsequently, I spent two years with my dad in the pizzeria he opened in Chiavenna. Finally, in 2022, TraMa was born. A dear friend described this idea of mine as an "extraordinary madness" because starting a business at that time meant doing it without having fully emerged from a pandemic, during a period of energy crisis, at a time when everything was very slow, and the food industry was undergoing a profound change.
How has the quality food sector changed?
On one hand, it has changed for the better because there is a continuous search to return to the way things were done in the past, to niche products, to what is good and healthy. We are witnessing a gradual return to more authentic production, done in a simpler way. It has changed for the worse because this leads to being very, perhaps even too, demanding and especially wanting certain things from everyone. But what is made artisanally cannot, by definition, be produced in large quantities. I don't experience this much because I have a very small production, of quality... little but good is my philosophy. But it is obvious that a small production does not allow you to satisfy everyone.
TraMa is the essence of simplicity and transparency.
What made you decide to focus on a micro-bakery?
Simplicity and transparency. TraMa embodies the essence of simplicity and transparency. When I first saw this place, I immediately understood that what I had in mind could work. For me, bread today is the quintessential symbol of unity. And unity is what I want to create with my work: unity with the products because those who enter my bakery experience what I do, transparency because there are no secrets here, everything is in plain sight: those who enter see what I prepare, for better or worse. Sincerity, transparency, simplicity. This is the bare minimum for me to make bread: a mixer, a proving chamber, an oven, and a counter to sell. With quality ingredients, so much can be done.
What does TraMa mean?
They are the initials of Trapasso Matteo, which is me. But for many people, it is also the dough of bread, it is what they thought immediately. And as a concept, I like it.
To open, you launched a crowdfunding campaign...
The idea came to me the very evening I saw this space. I was 24 years old and didn’t have a euro to spare, but I needed to reach at least a minimal initial budget to get started. From there, I told myself, “let’s try to test the waters to see if a project like this, especially in a city like Milan, could be of interest” and I launched a crowdfunding campaign. In reality, I didn’t raise much, just a few thousand euros, but from there what started was beautiful: it triggered a media chain that continues even today. First, people, and then the media, became interested in my project and began to talk about it; it’s incredible how today, a young person making bread has managed to and continues to make news. Even today, I receive messages from all over Italy and sometimes even from all over the world because people, especially through social media, have become curious and wanted to understand what this project was and what my story was.
For example, a few months ago, it happened that a lady, who lives nearby but had no idea of my existence, decided to come to me because her daughter, who lives in Houston, had seen a video on Tik Tok of someone talking about me.
Spelt, monococcum spelt, spelt wheat, buckwheat, corn, rice, durum wheat, and soft wheat are the 8 flours that make up my bread.
If I enter your bakery, what can I taste?
Sourdough bread made with organic stone-ground flours, pala focaccias, very simple baked cakes (apples, chocolate, orange) and classic milk buns for hamburgers. I don’t have a calendar, I don’t have a menu, I change flour practically every day. A few weeks ago, my flour arrived, produced for me by Mulino Marino, with whom I have worked since I opened. It is a flour made from 8 different grains. We wanted to call it 8.87 because that is the square meters of the place and also the number of grains inside. It starts from a blend of 7 grains to which I added my own, which is the eighth: rye, einkorn wheat, spelt, buckwheat, corn, rice, durum wheat, and soft wheat.
How are raw materials selected?
Somewhat refined and somewhat casual. I already knew Mulino Marino, and my relationship with them has intensified over the years. I have always sought out small businesses that align with my values: craftsmanship in spaces that may not be so small but are certainly not industrial-level, promoting this concept at all levels. In reality, my raw materials are very few: water, flour... and a little more. Then I have some products from small farms like honey, tomato passata, preserves, and chocolate spreads that can be purchased here.
My job is to tell a story that starts from the grain that becomes flour that becomes bread.
What are the challenges but also the limits of such a small place? And how do you transform them?
Clearly, what is a challenge is also a limit: greatness. Making bread in 8.87 square meters entails a huge challenge because doing it is like playing Tetris; it’s a puzzle every day to make it work. It’s a limit when the production of bread and products is, indeed, limited. But craftsmanship means this: I couldn’t be artisanal if I produced a certain number of quintals or tons of bread every day because I would betray exactly that uniqueness that defines me. The problem is that the two things are not always linked; for example, let’s think about beer. This drink, to be defined artisanal, must not be produced in larger doses than a specific amount that, if exceeded, turns it into an industrial product. For bread and pastries, it’s not the same: if I produce 50 kg of bread a day, I am the same as someone who produces 5,000, but the two situations are not identical. Today, this concept has been somewhat lost, just as the concept of micro has. There are bakeries that define themselves as such, but they are 60 square meters... there is a lot of confusion about what craftsmanship is today. My job is to tell a story that starts from the grain that becomes flour that becomes bread: from the farmer to the miller to the baker. What you eat is not just my work but contains the entire supply chain behind it. And you have to tell this in a loaf of bread. By making bread on a large scale, you lose that essence.
Speaking of micro-bakeries and craftsmanship, one thing that certainly sets you apart is your relationship with customers.
Today we have become accustomed to working in many ways: in a bakery, some are at the front and some are in the backroom, some have direct contact with customers selling bread, and others work behind the scenes to produce it. However, I believe that the person most suited to sell bread is precisely the one who makes it because they understand it. Doing this job and carrying on the concept of telling a story requires investing time to help people understand what is behind it. Here at TraMa, it both helps and doesn't help because, simply put, you can see it all with your own eyes; it's all right here. However, this relationship is very important; for me, regular customers have become friends.
Speaking instead of sustainability, how do you relate to this topic?
What I have tried to do is make everything sustainable, starting with the quantity of bread produced daily, which is made in a way that has no waste or leftovers. The machines are all interconnected through software to reduce environmental impact. I use packaging that contains no plastic, so paper and other recyclable materials. My approach is 100% plastic-free, I don't even use plastic wrap. And, above all, I have chosen a sustainable model for my life as well: I only work during the day, not at night.
How do you think the food craftsmanship sector will evolve? Both in breadmaking and more generally.
Perhaps there is a need to return to simple things, to things made well. Today we are all a bit like we are on a stage, as if we always have to put on a show, always trying to stand out and do more. In my opinion, today more than ever, we need to step down from this stage and return a bit to ourselves. And this is what I hope will be the future of craftsmanship, a return to ourselves and to simple things, produced in the simplest way possible. Simplicity.
