Elbow Bread is Rising in Chinatown

Baker Zoë Kanan is opening Elbow Bread along with Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross of Court Street Grocers and S&P .

So far, Kanan and her team have posted images on Elbow Bread’s social media of buckwheat meringue brownies, caraway rye sourdough palmiers, pletzl, Philly fluff cake, challah, rugelach– hinting these might be available for purchase soon. It seems the menu will include pastries, bread, sandwiches and coffee as well.

Traded NY reports that Consolidated Baking, which is behind Elbow Bread, signed a lease agreement for the 375 square-foot space for a term of 10 years.

The space was formerly occupied by Mel The Bakery , which has since relocated to 324 Warren Street, citing that the space on Ludlow was too small to accommodate Mel The Bakery’s growing business.

An article published on Grub Street dives into Kanan’s biography. Originally from Texas, she moved to New York City in 2009 before going on to work as a pie baker at Four and Twenty Blackbirds. She then went on to be a Department Manager at Momofuku Milk Bar, a baker sous chef at Major Food Group, the head baker at Altamarea Group and the pastry chef at Freehand New York. After the shutdowns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, Kanan launched her own pop-up venture Zoe’s Doughies that would serve donuts, bagels and desserts at markets and restaurants across the city.

Elbow Bread won’t serve bagels due to some ventilation concerns surrounding the boiling process, but Kanan plans to delight visitors with a similar item called “bialys” that people might remember that Mel The Bakery served as well.

What Now NY was not immediately able to reach Kanan for a comment. According to Eater NY , Elbow Bread will open in September.

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