BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (PIX11) – At Bed-Stuy’s new Bakery by Textbook, you can pay $9 or nothing at all and still get the same fresh-baked loaf of sourdough.
The “name your price” bread policy is similar to other stores’ pay-it-forward programs, allowing customers to do random acts of kindness for each other, according to Chef Tony Yarema. But Bakery by Textbook wanted to keep the burden on the eatery.
“Everyone should be able to afford bread that’s good for them,” Yarema said. “We really wanted to do something that was [just] for the community.”
Good, fresh food can be hard to come by in some areas of Brooklyn, which is why Fort Greene’s Textbook Cafe opened its second location on Hancock Street and Howard Avenue in Bed-Stuy.
“It’s not just about having options, it’s about having options of quality [and nutrition],” Yarema said.
And the bread isn’t the only deal focused on keeping the community satisfied. The bakery doesn’t charge extra for alternative milk and gives free drip coffee refills on any hot beverage the day it was purchased.
“In general, we price things fairly low,” Yarema said.
As for the food, the espresso chocolate cookies have been a quick hit in the bakery's first two months, but they won’t be around for long. The cookies are aged for two days with high-quality chocolate and fresh-made toffee.
People have also loved the bakery’s shakshuka, cooked directly on top of bread, and their blueberry muffins, Yarema said.
“It’s a really, really good blueberry muffin,” said Yarema. “I don’t like blueberry muffins, but I like this one.”
The menu will change seasonally, and now coming into fall, Yarema is working on cardamom buns and amarretti.
The bakery is all about community, and fits perfectly into the block's vibe, Yarema said. Many of its workers live within a 20-minute walk of the storefront, which nods to Brooklyn’s stoop culture and has a black-and-white, graffiti-like mural.
The seating is set up so patrons can watch the bakers work in the eatery that looks almost like a production facility with an inviting vibe, Yarema said.
On Thursday, Bakery by Textbook will host a free mental health check-in and seminar for community members with NYU Professor Azadeh Aalai, a social psychologist focused on community mental health.
“[We’re] trying to be here for the community,” Yarema said. “We’d like to exist in this neighborhood for a long time.”
