fascinating. thank you for this reporting into a hidden world. the line 'bigger than anyone better and better than anyone bigger' is going to stick with me
Both bread newsletters fascinating. The part here about machinery brought in to reduce wear and tear on bakers’ bodies is something no one outside the industry would know about. We want handmade, hand-shaped, hand everything, without regard to what it’s doing to the bakers themselves. Established by Keith McNally?
Yes! The other thing I think about a lot here is wok cooking, and hawking. Classic Chinese wok tossing, and the repetitive motion from use of a wok shovel in the case of hawkers, just destroys your shoulder and elbow. This is Keith McNally’s Balthazar, yes, but Paula was really the brains behind the bakery, from day one.
I really enjoyed reading this. There's a publication whose name I'm forgetting focused on work, especially handwork, and this reminded me of it. Also reminded me of the recent book Craftland, about dying crafts in the UK.
ps I used to go to the bakery early on the morning next to Balthazar’s in Manhattan when I stayed at a friend’s in Soho for work. I thought they baked the bread and pastries right there because I seem to remember racks of ovens behind the counter on the right? maybe I misremembered. I also went for brunch a few times at Balthazar’s and got the bread basket which was amazing (this was years ago).
As far as I know, there were never ovens on the ground floor. The bakery was at one point located in that building in Soho but it was in the basement. I'd totally believe you saw speed-racks full of baked goods behind the counter though!
fascinating. thank you for this reporting into a hidden world. the line 'bigger than anyone better and better than anyone bigger' is going to stick with me
It's not a terrible goal.
Both bread newsletters fascinating. The part here about machinery brought in to reduce wear and tear on bakers’ bodies is something no one outside the industry would know about. We want handmade, hand-shaped, hand everything, without regard to what it’s doing to the bakers themselves. Established by Keith McNally?
Yes! The other thing I think about a lot here is wok cooking, and hawking. Classic Chinese wok tossing, and the repetitive motion from use of a wok shovel in the case of hawkers, just destroys your shoulder and elbow. This is Keith McNally’s Balthazar, yes, but Paula was really the brains behind the bakery, from day one.
Love this, wish I lived nearer. I’m in UK
I really enjoyed reading this. There's a publication whose name I'm forgetting focused on work, especially handwork, and this reminded me of it. Also reminded me of the recent book Craftland, about dying crafts in the UK.
Thank you! Handwork, as you might be able to tell, is a subject right next to my heart. I hadn’t heard of Craftland, but will look it up!
You might also be interested in what this baker has to say — it’s in German, but google translate does OK.
https://www.ploetzblog.de/meinungen/was-ist-eine-handwerksbaeckerei
I love bread! Make my own paltry loaf. So amazing to read how to do it at scale!
fun read ty
ps I used to go to the bakery early on the morning next to Balthazar’s in Manhattan when I stayed at a friend’s in Soho for work. I thought they baked the bread and pastries right there because I seem to remember racks of ovens behind the counter on the right? maybe I misremembered. I also went for brunch a few times at Balthazar’s and got the bread basket which was amazing (this was years ago).
As far as I know, there were never ovens on the ground floor. The bakery was at one point located in that building in Soho but it was in the basement. I'd totally believe you saw speed-racks full of baked goods behind the counter though!