Potters Table Whips up Healthy, Snackable Treats in Round Top

Photos courtesy of Potters Table

Learn how the tech pro behind Greene County’s Potters Table pivoted to baking crisp, craveable flatbreads—and never looked back.

There are many things to love about a dinner party in the Hudson Valley: Friends old and new, great food made from local ingredients, and plenty of engaging conversation.

But occasionally, these gatherings can offer something more—such as the spark for a big idea. Marta Bartolomei Edmonds can attest to this. Dinner parties inspired the creation of her business, Potters Table, a line of hand-crafted flatbreads, crisps, and other gourmet treats that’s sold throughout the Valley and increasingly across the country.

The adventure began 11 years ago, when Marta was working as a project manager for web and app development in NYC. She and her husband, Scott Edmonds, who also works in tech, bought a weekend place in Round Top in Greene County to escape the pace and pressures of city life. There, the couple began hosting friends, most of whom they met as Scott pursued his passion for making pottery.

“We made a group of good friends at his studio in the city, and we’d often gather at dinner time,” says Marta. “I would make my flatbreads,” which were super popular, “That sharing experience made me realize that baking was what really lit my heart.”

Marta first caught the baking bug after graduating from college. Born and raised primarily in Puerto Rico, she attended Montana State University, where she met Scott. They settled in Bozeman, where daughter Angelica (now 31, and a part of the Potters Table team) was soon born.

“When my daughter was little, I fell in love with baking,” recalls Marta. She enjoyed it so much that she started selling scones at local farmer’s markets under the name Vincent Van Scone. Although she developed a loyal following, Marta hung up her apron, professionally speaking, while she built her career and family, moving to NYC some 20 years ago.

Her passion for baking lay mostly dormant until she began entertaining friends upstate. Her flatbreads—sprinkled with crunchy seeds and savory herbs based on a recipe that she had tinkered with and perfected over the years—were a huge hit on the menu, so much so that in 2017, Marta felt she had something special on her hands. From her home in Round Top and ready to leave her tech job behind, she launched Potters Table, named after the birthplace of the brand.

“In all the years of my successful career, I never felt the fulfillment I experience when I share a meal and have a great conversation and really connect with someone. I wanted to foster that in our community with these products,” she says. The flatbreads debuted at Story Farms in Catskill and took off. Marta went into larger-scale production, first at her home, then at a Coxsackie commercial kitchen, and later in Round Top at the old Hartmann’s Bakery kitchen, carefully sourcing as locally and sustainably as possible. “With something as simple as flatbreads, which are just organic whole-grain wheat, organic olive oil, water, and salt, the ingredients must truly shine,” she says.

“In all the years of my successful career, I never felt the fulfillment I experience when I share a meal and have a great conversation and really connect with someone. I wanted to foster that in our community with these products,” says Marta Edmonds.

The product line grew to include gluten-free, keto-friendly crisps, as well as shortbreads, s’mores kits (a partnership with Fruition Chocolate Works in Shokan), and now a cheeseboard set, partnering with Dutchess and Columbia County-based businesses (KHEM Studios for the boards, Les Collines for the jelly, and Churchtown Dairy for the cheese). With products sold online at dozens of retailers, and at local events (like Basilica Farm & Flea and Field & Supply MRKT), business is booming.

However, there’s another secret ingredient to Potters Table’s success: a mission that gives back to the community. For the past couple of years, the company has been working with the Arc Mid-Hudson, a local nonprofit serving people with disabilities. The bakery is housed at the Arc’s Catskill location, as a tenant, and approximately half of its employees are from the Arc.

“Our goal is to have a diverse and inclusive workplace. It has been such a rewarding experience to be part of our employees’ life,” says Marta. “Our very first employee at the Arc started in packaging and then showed interest in baking. Now she helps with measuring and portioning. We’re all learning and growing together.” The program has been so successful that Potters Table was awarded Employer of the Year in 2022 by the Arc Mid-Hudson.

When she’s not up to her elbows in dough, Marta can be found in hyper-local pursuits, from hiking nearby trails to popping into Catskill’s Kaaterskill Market and browsing the handmade crafts and housewares. Otherwise, she spends any free time getting dirty in her garden. She’s transformed a once-unremarkable lawn into a glorious flower field, layered with lavender, bee balm, and medicinal flowers, like echinacea. “I love developing a garden,” says Marta. “It’s like a conversation with nature.”

Just like at the dinner parties that hatched the Potters Table products, conversation is always king.