Artisan bakery mixes tradition with social activism

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNew York

March 24, 2008

Jessamyn Waldman holds a bowl of blue corn tortillas at Hot Bread Kitchen, a not-for-profit bakery located in Long Island City, Queens. Hot Bread Kitchen employs immigrant women with the mission of preserving cultural baking traditions while using local organic ingredients. (Newsday/ Dave Sanders)

As immigrants strive to preserve their traditions and prosper in New York, one social activist offers help -- one bread loaf at a time.

Jessamyn Waldman, 31, founded Hot Bread Kitchen in May 2007. The Queens-based nonprofit artisan bakery provides social and financial opportunities to immigrant women and their families.

"The idea is to help those women get jobs that pay better and get some sort of professional training," says Waldman. "One of the women that I've been baking with has been in New York City for 14 years. As soon as she came to Hot Bread Kitchen, we helped her husband get a job. We've been offering her English classes and computer classes, and pay her a living wage."

Waldman's group bakes at a kitchen incubator in Long Island City; "a certified industrial kitchen you can rent by the shift," she says. The nonprofit thrives on donations, and earlier this year Waldman was awarded a $10,000 startup grant from the Eileen Fisher annual Business Grant Program for Women Entrepreneurs.

"There's a lot of demand for our products," says Waldman. Her team of bakers specializes in European and ethnic breads such as French baguettes, Italian focaccia and Armenian lavash, all made with organic ingredients. The most popular item is their handmade Mexican corn tortilla, and soon the women will introduce Afghan flat bread.

Waldman, a self-described "foodie," says the idea for Hot Bread Kitchen dawned on her about 10 years ago while working for human rights and immigration nonprofit organizations. The city's diverse ethnic profile and immigrant culture makes it an ideal location for her enterprise, she says. Hot

Bread Kitchen's bakers are from Mexico, Togo and Afghanistan.

The group is small for now -- about four women bakers -- but Waldman hopes to open doors for more immigrants.

"Within five years, I'd like to be where we're training 50 women a year and we are able to open our own retail space with a classroom, as well," she says. "I'm the founder and the director right now, but I'm hoping the women can take on some of the director roles with me."

Here's a list of stores that sell Hot Bread Kitchen products:

Saxelby Cheesemongers -- Essex Market at Delancey and Essex, Lower East Side
Blue Apron Fine Foods -- 814 Union St. at Seventh Avenue, Park Slope
Get Fresh in Park Slope -- 370 Fifth Ave. between Fifth and Sixth streets, Park Slope
Greene Grape Provisions -- 753 Fulton St. at the corner of South Portland, Fort Greene
Marlow and Sons Gourmet -- 81 Broadway, Williamsburg
Stinky Brooklyn -- 261 Smith St., Carroll Gardens
Urban Rustic -- 236 N. 12th St., Williamsburg
Victory Cafe -- 71 Hoyt St. at State Street, Boerum Hill
Source: www.hotbreadkitchen.org