Pratt Morales
Father shares rich Albuquerque traditions, treasured culinary art form with son. Bread is more than food to baker Pratt Morales. It is a source of pride, inspiration and artistic expression that he is sharing with his baker son, Christopher.
Tucked away in a modest adobe in one of Albuquerque’s oldest neighborhoods is the father-son duo’s labor of love – a corner bakery where Pratt is teaching his son how to use yeast and flour to keep the community’s culinary traditions alive.
Stop by Golden Crown Panadería as day breaks, and you’ll likely find father and son hard at work behind the counter, putting loaves of their trademark green chile bread in the oven. You’ll also find third-generation customers and international visitors lining up to buy Golden Crown’s pastries and famous biscochito cookies.
When a local banker sent Pratt to ACCION in 2004, the proud and prudent baker was at a crossroads. Pratt had run his business for years without the need to borrow. But if he and his son were to realize their plans for purchasing and expanding the bakery’s cherished home, they needed capital and credit history to do it. Within a year, ACCION had loaned Golden Crown a total of $53,000 that has fueled exciting growth.
Today, the Moraleses own their old-fashioned labor of love and are expanding their product reach thanks to an Internet presence that allows Pratt and Christopher to ship a little taste of New Mexico to places like Nigeria and Bulgaria.
"A little bakery like this is an art that should be preserved and shared with future generations," Pratt says.