Monday, July 23, 2012

☞ SHOP: Hot Bread Kitchen Almacen Opens

We received the below press announcement today that provides more details on the first Hot Bread Kitchen retail outlet in Harlem.

The non-profit, social enterprise bread bakery that provides low-income and foreign-born women with paid training to become professional bakers - announces the opening today, Monday, July 23rd, of a retail location, Hot Bread Almacen (La Marqueta, 1590 Park Avenue, at East 115th Street; 212-369-3331). "Almacen" is the Spanish word for "general store"; Hot Bread Almacen is located in La Marqueta, the historic Spanish Harlem food market.

Hot Bread Almacen's hours are Monday-Saturday, 8 AM- 5 PM, and the store features Hot Bread Kitchen's full line of award-winning breads, such as challah and seasonal focaccia, plus the following items exclusively sold there: the Bialy al Barrio (an egg, cheese and hot sauce sandwich on Hot Bread Kitchen's signature bialy), mini-bialys, freshly ground masa, tortillas hot off the press (during select hours), and a daily changing special from a culinary business in HBK Incubates.  Check the full Hot Bread Kitchen menu here: LINK

16 comments:

  1. Wonderful concept...will check it out & support

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  2. I wish them much luck but their bread prices are higher than Whole Foods or Gran Daisy and 2.50 for a bialy?

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  3. Looks great. Can't wait to try.

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  4. Sanou's Mum--is it really that hard to pony up an extra quarter to help out women such as these? I'm on a VERY tight budget myself, but the slight markup is for a good cause. Think of that extra little bit as charity, except you get (almost certainly) delicious bread in exchange.

    Try not always to think of things as the immediate cost to you. The real cost of things isn't always what meets the eye--the cheapest thing isn't always the best.

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    1. All well and good, Harold but charging TriBeCa/Soho prices when you are under the train tracks in East Harlem doesn't strike me as a great business plan. As I said, I wish them well but 2dollars fifty for a bialy just ain't Kosher.

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  5. I've had these bialys at the markets, and they're not the inedible bialys you get at the coffee stand. These are the real deal, and worth it. You'll spend more at Starbucks for a coffee.

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  6. I think it both good to support a local social enterprise business such as this, but also they need to have competitive pricing to win regular customers. Looking at the menu, they seem excellent value on many items.

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  7. SM--Target has cheap bread if you just keep going east.

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    1. Good to know. Actually I make my own bread but I was comparing the ciabatta to Grand Daisy and Sullivan Street. Seemed high to me. And a 2.50 bialy should come with its own rabbi.

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  8. Cheap options at mass retailers, fast food chains and bodegas are what drove away the old time soul food restaurants, mom and pop stores, bakeries and the like from the neighborhood. HBK makes the baked goods on the spot that day and provides a service once lost to the neighborhood.

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  9. Thanks for helping us to spread the word about our new store! The menu actually incorrectly listed the bialy price, they are $2, not $2.5 ($3 for a bialy with egg and cheese). Hope you all can stop by to check us out!

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  10. SM--wait, you aren't even interested in buying bread from here?! Why in the world would you act put out and complain about the price, then? Lots of us are interested, yet the one person who regularly makes her own bread (and has NO INTENTION OF PURCHASING BREAD) is hitting the board with comments about price?! Really?

    Too many complainers around here. Best of luck to Almacen. Great cause, and it looks like great product. Heading over tonight!

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  11. Jeeze, Harold. I don't make bialys or ciabatta. And I didn't think my expressing an opinion that I found the prices somewhat high for the area constituted a complaint. I don't think many people plan on buying the Victoria Theatre but there were, what, 61 posts?

    Enjoy the bread. Seriously.

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  12. I probably won't make it before 5pm during the week but will make a stop on a Saturday soon!

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  13. I will definitely check this out when I move to the neighborhood in December/January. I LOVE that this program is helping women and immigrants gain skills and self-confidence in the workshop. Brava!

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