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Bread shop outlasts 'German Broadway'

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

August 28, 2006

Abram Orwasher in his Handmade Bread shop. (Photo by Ian Tong)

When a young Abram Orwasher was growing up in a tenement building on East 77th Street in the 1960s, the streets of Yorkville overflowed with the fresh aroma of red paprika and garlic. His mom's local Hungarian butcher spoke broken English, and "German Broadway," on the eastern strip of 86th Street, was still largely German.

Today, the once working class German-Hungarian neighborhood of Yorkville on the Upper East Side, bound roughly by East 78th street to 96th Street between the East River and Third Avenue, is a mostly upper-middle class district of residents from all over. Over the past decade, long-time Yorkville businesses like the well-known Breman House Market and Mokka Restaurant have shut down.

"It's been a gradual change. The generation of old died or moved away," said Orwasher, whose parents were Hungarian-Austrian.

He is still holding on to the community, running Orwasher's Handmade Bread on 308 E. 78th St., an Upper East Side staple since his grandfather opened the shop in 1916 in the same location.

"It's been a slow process ... It's not an easy business," said the 55-year-old. "If we don't sell all the bread we make today, we have to replace it all tomorrow."

Orwasher said he believes his bakery's old-fashioned routine is what's helped it stay competitive in modern times.

Rolled by hand and baked in a brick hearth oven, Orwasher's rye, pumpernickel and Irish soda breads are year-round favorites. "What we survive on is our quality, our unique style and reputation," he said.

Aside from the overall neighborhood evolution in Yorkville, Orwasher said his bread bakery is sensitive to macroeconomic and social effects. He cited the recent rise in commodity prices, like sugar following Hurricane Katrina. Flour is also more expensive now.

"Everything we use has gone up," he said.

What's offset some of those costs is Orwasher's monthly rent.

His payments are not as high as his neighbors', since his family owns the building. "Rent pressure is not as great as it should be," he admitted.

Beyond retail, Orwasher's wholesale division has also helped keep his business afloat. Supplying bread to local restaurants and grocers has boosted sales.

But Orwasher would rather see his retail unit grow, he said. The one- on-one interaction with customers is what the business was founded on, he said.

"Bread is a personal item," he said. Some people prefer it super- seeded, some want it plain. Some like it buttered, others not.

Despite changing times, getting an order done to perfection is the one attribute of Orwasher's that still serves as a constant reminder of the olden days.

Farnoosh Torabi is a video correspondent for thestreet.com. amSmallBusiness@gmail.com.

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