“Sorry, Julia, but … Sue’s exploding.”

Julia Castellano, owner of Little Loaf Bakery & Schoolhouse in Wilmington, smiles at her frazzled class assistant Erin Burney and laughs. Castellano pops up from her chair in front of the sourdough class she’s leading, her dark curls bouncing behind her as she heads into the kitchen. Confusion spreads across the faces of the 14 breadmaking novices at today’s lesson. They glance around the room, all wondering the same thing: Who is Sue?

Among Julia Castellano’s sourdough starters is Dough-P Jr., created from the one used by her mentor in France. Customers can purchase portions of Dough-P Jr. weekly, Thursday to Sunday. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

Sue might be sweet, but she’s known to act out. Between you and me, she smells like she’s been drinking champagne all day. But that’s not unusual: Sue is a variety of sourdough starter mainly used in Castellano’s popular friendship cake that’s rich in spices and topped with a nutty crumble. Years of fermenting sugar, flour, and milk explain her boozy aroma, and the humidity from this afternoon’s storm has caused her to expand rapidly and, well, explode.

Sue — named for the friend who gave her the starter — is one of four that Castellano has collected, fed, and shared over the years. Today, she’s given each of her students some of Dough-P Jr., a sourdough starter created from the 161-year-old one that her mentor Geoffrey, a baker in the small French town of Treignac, used in his bread.

Students learn how to prepare, knead, and shape dough in Little Loaf’s sourdough class. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

The students blend Dough-P Jr. into their dough and, with Castellano’s help, shape it into boules, or “balls.” Using the pinkie edge of her hands, she rolls each boule across the counter to tuck away any seams and watches as the bakers mirror her movements.

After tending to each boule, she pauses to tap the dough twice, like the head of a beloved pet, and says in an adoring tone, “I love you.” Though the afternoon is advertised as a sourdough-making class, Castellano teaches her pupils how to make and love this ancient craft. She can’t help it. Bread — baking it, sharing it, and eating it — makes her happy.

• • •

Born in New York, Castellano moved to Wilmington with her parents and sister, Charlotte, in 2003, when she was 9. Her mother is from Belgium, and her father’s grandparents emigrated from Italy in the early 20th century. This meant large Italian Sunday dinners and trips to Europe to see relatives and indulge in breads and pastries — experiences that cemented her affinity for food.

“When I was a kid, my sister watched Animal Planet, and I watched the Food Network,” she says. When Castellano prayed before bed, her prayers were always the same: “I want to thank God for chocolate.”

David’s Bombe is the creation of baker David Ingison. It features a thin layer of chocolate cake and dark chocolate mousse with hints of rum and coffee, all encased in a chocolate glaze. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

Castellano studied French and teaching English as a second language at Appalachian State University. There, she’d learn her friends’ favorite desserts so she could surprise them on their birthdays. “As I got older, [baking] was a way that I felt I could make other people happy,” she says.

After school, Castellano taught English on Réunion Island, located in the Indian Ocean, and then in Argentina. The Argentinian village where she lived was remote, and she felt isolated. As a food lover, she noticed that the locals enjoyed cookies called pepas every morning. So she set out on a mission: Every night, she stayed up baking hundreds of these cookies and perfecting her recipe. In the morning, she’d hop on her bike and sell them around town. “It was the No. 1 thing I looked forward to,” she says. This time, Castellano baked to make herself happy.

Front-of-House Manager Alex Burch-Kent came aboard as a barista. She’s since expanded Little Loaf’s beverage menu into a full-fledged coffee program. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

Eventually, she enrolled in a pastry program in Vancouver and later apprenticed in the small French town where her uncle lived. She realized her croissants needed to be good enough to compete with what people could get in France, or she wasn’t going to be able to sell them.

In Treignac, she learned the precision with which a boulanger, or baker, works. “[Working in] pastry there is like being a doctor,” she says. “It’s very revered and respected.”

Boules and baguettes on the on the shelves at Little Loaf bear names that tell a story. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

She brought home recipes, some starter that she smuggled through airport security, and an appreciation for old-world baking. At Little Loaf, she says, “we’re very creative, but when we stick to the original method and what it’s supposed to be, it always renders the best result. There’s no machine that’s going to mix the dough like your hands do.”

In 2020, still deciding what she would do with her baking skills, Castellano made sourdough at home and gave it away. She started selling her bread at farmers markets and, after much demand, purchased the circa-1930s cottage that’s now home to her bakery. In 2022, Little Loaf opened for business. Ever since, Castellano has been baking to keep all of Wilmington happy.

• • •

Of all her offerings at the bakery, Castellano loves teaching classes the most. When she opened a bakery, she didn’t want to abandon her passion for education. “I didn’t stop teaching [English] because I didn’t like teaching,” she says. “Every time you teach, you learn. You never want to feel like there’s not more to learn.” In addition to sourdough classes, she offers other lessons in baking and hosts other local makers who share their knowledge.

Soon after Little Loaf opened, when it was just Castellano, her sister, and a few others working there, a baker named Dylan O’Neill reached out to Castellano. He was looking to move to Wilmington from New York, and he asked if he could apprentice under her. Ever the fan of education, Castellano agreed. A skilled baker himself, O’Neill helped her perfect her croissant lamination.

One day, when it was just the two of them in the bakery, he kissed her. They started dating and kept baking. In 2025, they married. At their wedding, they served a MoonPie-inspired cake and cupcakes with toasted meringue, plus salted vanilla bean cupcakes, all made by the couple. On the happiest day of her life, Castellano was baking.

• • •

Once Castellano puts Sue back in her place, she returns to her students. Rain pours down outside the thick glass windows of the little green-and-yellow cottage, making the small space feel even cozier. The session is nearing its end when a ding rings from the back of the bakery.

Some of the folks at today’s sold-out class have baking experience but want to learn from Castellano. Little Loaf was named best bakery by Wilmington Magazine in 2024 and 2025 thanks to her passion and her talented staff, which has grown to 13 in just three years. What sets her apart is her dedication to the old-world methods that she learned through her travels. “The more complicated you make bread and food, the further away it gets from something that’s nourishing, enjoyable, and nostalgic,” she says.

Beyond bread, Little Loaf offers an assortment of other baked goods, such as muffins, cinnamon rolls, and morning buns. photograph by Matt Ray Photography

Castellano leads the class one by one to the back of the house, where their loaves are golden and ready to be pulled from the oven. Through the open back door, the bakers watch the branches of the live oak over the patio whip in the wind. The breeze stirs the scent of freshly baked bread in the tiny oven room. Delight spreads across the faces of the 14 bakers as they glance around, all likely thinking the same thing: I’m so happy I did this.

Little Loaf Bakery & Schoolhouse
3410 Wrightsville Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28403
(910) 399-6061
littleloafbakeryilm.com