This Saucy Lady Is Serving Up A Taste Of Tuscany In Arkansas

Several years ago, I was having a bad week. It wasn’t anything particularly tragic. In fact, I can’t even remember the details now. What I do remember is a jar of homemade, red garlic sauce appeared on my back steps from my friend Amy Bradley-Hole. That night we had pasta for supper, probably with a lot of wine. Life seemed a little better.

Some version of that story is how a lot of people in Little Rock originally tasted what is now Bonta Toscana garlic sauce.

“It was a good gift to have on hand when someone had a baby or got sick or for some reason needed an easy dinner,” said Bradley-Hole. “I’d grab a jar from the pantry and pick up some pasta, throw in a loaf of bread, and done.”

Over time, demand started to grow. People were asking for more of the sauce that seems to make a day a little better.

“When people started asking for more and more jars, I finally said, ‘I’m going to have to start charging for this,’” she recalls. “Everyone immediately said, ‘Fine. We’ll pay.’ That’s when I started thinking there might be a business here.”

THE TUSCANY CONNECTION
The sauce originated from Tuscany, where Bradley-Hole’s family vacations regularly, although not as often as she would like. Several years ago, when they arrived at the home where they were staying, the maid knew they would have been traveling for long hours. She put out some snacks for the guests, including a garlic red sauce. The family fell in love. “We practically swan-dived into it,” she said.

Even though the women had a significant language barrier, they managed to communicate well enough for Bradley-Hole to spend enough time in the kitchen watching her cook and taking notes so she could replicate it back in the States.

Central Arkansas is also taking the plunge into Italian sauce. Bonta Toscana produces 400 to 500 jars per month. There is practically no inventory. It all sells at places like the Hillcrest Farmers’ Market, Strattons, Eggshells in the Heights and Arkansas Fresh in Bryant.

“Little Rock has a young, energetic food scene that is eagerly supporting all kinds of new talent,” said Steve Shuler, host of Little Rock Foodcast. “Bonta Toscana is a perfect match for what is happening now. It’s a high-quality product made locally that tastes great and has an identity with the city.”

“I always say this is a product of Little Rock as much as of Tuscany,” said Bradley-Hole. “I don’t know if it would have happened in any other place at any other time. The food scene here is so supportive. If I need something, someone will say, ‘Oh, I know who you need to talk to.’ And then that person will talk to you.”

Shuler said, “Amy is the kind of person everybody wants to succeed. She’s come up with a great product and has put in the hours and effort to make her business work. She simply makes Little Rock’s food scene better.”

GROWING PAINS
The business is now experiencing the kind of growing pains new businesses hope for. No sooner did it get permanent space in a commercial kitchen than orders increased to maximize capacity. Currently, Bradley-Hole taste tests every single batch for quality control. Her required presence in the kitchen limits production, but assures the quality she calls herself picky enough to demand.

Then she has to consider shipping and distribution logistical concerns. Initial talks are under way with larger retailers, but that means a major increase in production. Bradley-Hole is considering a couple of options to remedy the growth versus quality control tension she feels.

“There are things you just don’t think about until you’re in the middle of something like this,” she said. “If there’s bad weather in China, and it affects their garlic crop, then suddenly everyone is trying to buy the California garlic that I typically buy, which drives up the price. I’m just saying, it didn’t occur to me to consider Chinese weather patterns when I decided to make a go of this.”

She is a dreamer at heart. She imagines bringing chefs over from Italy for cooking workshops and doing more to promote the Italian “lifestyle.” She has new recipes percolating in her head. But for those to work, she has to remove herself from the day-to-day operations, and that’s going to require the proper partnerships, which she says must be carefully considered.

“When I worked for other people, I would want to make big changes fast. I would say things like, ‘No more sacred cows!’ Now I have a better understanding of how sacred cows got to be sacred.

“There is a ripple effect for every decision I make. I want to be sure I’ve thought through every decision from jar size to labeling to nutritional information before I decide if I’m going to change a tomato distributor. Because that one decision can affect everything else.

“I’ve learned change is best done slowly and deliberately.”

If things go according to Bradley-Hole’s plans, jars of sauce will continue to appear on neighbors’ porches during tough weeks, in baskets to celebrate births and help out during long illnesses. Those porches and baskets will just be nationwide, rather than only in Central Arkansas.