Chef Charles Talucci’s bakery is the alchemy of baking with passion.
By, Pamela Jouan, Photographs by AZALEA Magazine, Courtesy of Subject
By mid-day, Chef Charles Talucci had already hand-rolled five dozen croissants. Anyone who knows him understands his passion for baking, especially dough. “It’s like falling in love,” he says, describing the rush he gets from coaxing simple ingredients like flour, water, salt and yeast into something transcendent. “There’s adrenaline, addiction, and definitely magic.”
Born and raised in Baltimore County, Charles grew up steeped in culinary tradition. His father, Olympic chef Tony Talucci, worked across the globe but served as Charles’ mentor when home. “We always ate well—shrimp, steak.” He spent a lot of time with his grandmother, cooking, walking to the local Italian deli to gather ingredients for lunch. This would later spark his incentive to open an Italian deli of his own.
Though he was initially discouraged from pursuing a culinary career, he was raised in the industry. By 11, he was helping his father with catering, then as a food runner at Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop and working at Chiapparelli’s. The experiences launched something deeper inside, and he decided that this is what he wanted to do.
Talucci graduated in 2006 from the Baltimore International Culinary College with one of the highest pastry arts degrees, studying under renowned masters like Certified Master Pastry Chef Yan Bandula and later, French pâtissier Joseph Poupon. He honed his skills around Maryland, including five years at a private club, before relocating to the Charleston area a decade ago. Summerville became home thanks to its strong school and proximity to downtown. “We came for opportunity—and found community too.”
Now, with his own bakery, deli, and soon-to-open commissary, Chef Charles brings an elevated European sensibility to the Lowcountry. His ingredients—from flour, vanilla beans, prosciutto and mortadella to a 600-day aged Parma—are carefully sourced from Italy. “It’s the kind of food I grew up on. Where most kids ate PB&J, I had mortadella on fresh Italian bread.”
The deli was born from this nostalgia, the bakery from his obsession with dough, and the upcoming commissary from a need to grow. “I’m maxed out,” he laughs, “but excited to expand with a bread line and more bulk baking, and also to begin shipping—starting with cookies.”
For Charles, it’s not just about perfecting recipes—it’s about sharing what he loves. “We do what we do because we believe in it,” he says firmly. “And Summerville’s well on its way to be one of the next big, small towns to really explode in terms of food offerings.”
