There are a lot of reasons to rejoice! It’s been a long 15 months and we all are comin’ on out!
Even more so with Tribeca’s Grandaisy Bakery marking its 15 -year anniversary of non-stop ovens baking some of NYC’s best and favorite bread, panini, dolce (pastries), and Roman-style pizzas.
On Monday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Grandaisy is celebrating! At its West Broadway and Beach Street location, there will be sidewalk jazz, complimentary loaves of bread (while they last), and much neighborly merriment.
The bakeshop, open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be stocked with its usual delicious goods and baristas will be preparing favorite beverages.
“We gratefully thank our loyal community of customers, suppliers, staff, friends, fans and family who have helped make Grandaisy a beloved downtown destination during these years,” says founder and owner Monica Von Thun Calderón.
And the feeling is mutual from neighbors who found this bakery a constant, particularly, always open and serving, during those lonely, isolated early months of the pandemic. Soldiering on, overnight, staff at Grandaisy went from 85 to nine employees.
As restaurants open and orders increase, staff is added—now up to 40, almost half of pre-pandemic days. When the subways stopped running 24-hours, schedules for bakers arriving during early morning hours needed adjustment.
Over the years, the bakery has survived numerous additional crises—environmental (Sandy), economic, and civic demonstrations. This is a special Thank You Celebration for the community.
“When I opened Grandaisy Bakery, my goal was to create a space for the art of bread baking to thrive,” says Monica. “It is not just years of practice, but a hospitable and friendly work environment that leads to great bakers. We are, as our motto says: Defending the Art of Handcrafted Bread.”
Behind the doors in the retail shop is where the bread magic happens, the huge actual bakery where one can sense the energy of the bakers mixing, rolling, the trays of shaped dough put into the oven and coming out browned and crusty.
Many members of the team have been working together for over a decade, if not since the beginning. And, they come from all over the world.
Monica explains, “Speaking many different languages —ASL, Bengali, English, French, Italian, and Spanish, we manage to communicate and work together baking and delivering these artisanal baked goods.”
Perennial favorites include the dark crusty filone, the award-winning ciabatta and the semi di sesamo. Season delights that customers look forward to are the schiacciatta d’uva—a champagne grape-studded flat bread, and the panini caprese—a sandwich made with local farmers’ heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella di buffalo.
Monica grew up eating and sharing homemade cakes and pastries baked by her grandmother, known by everyone in her Denver neighborhood as Grandaisy.
“All the children, whatever their nationality or language, could say her name and would come to share the delicious baked treats she would make for us to enjoy after school.”
The bakery’s name is a tribute to her. Monica beams, “Walking through the doors of the bakery and remembering my grandmother gives meaning and inspiration to my work each day.”
Small cornmeal cake with a seasonal berry filling
