Bakey

Any bakery can offer cookies and cakes…

But if you’re looking for flakey chocolate babka…

Savory goat cheese croissants…

And lighter-than-air bagels…

All of them still warm from the oven…

Then let us introduce you to Bakey

Don’t let the cutesy name fool you, because at Bakey in Boston, Newton, and Brookline, they take food — and hospitality — seriously. And according to their CEO Graham Theodore, you feel that passion as soon as you walk in.

I'd say the first thing is you get hugged by the aroma.  We’re baking all day. Our ovens are always on. So one of the truly unique propositions of Bakey is that you'll find something that's just come out of the oven.

And with a busy, bustling kitchen, it’s no surprise that Bakey’s dining room is always buzzing, too.

I've just heard it described as a Tel Aviv vibe. Tel Aviv I think is a really bustling city. There's lots of energy, lots of excitement. And I think especially for Bakey, on our busiest days right, so you really feel this energy.

Once you take in the smells and the sights, make your way over to the displays that are packed with sandwiches, breads, salads, and lots — and lots — of babka.

So definitely our specialty is babka. This is what people come for the chocolate babka in particular is something that really put us on the map.

And that’s because this is no ordinary babka. While most babkas use sweet, yeasted dough, Bakery’s babkas — created by founder Uri Scheft — borrow their technique from another classic: the croissant.

He actually has Danish roots, so he grew up in Denmark… and he brought that tradition of laminated dough to our chocolate babka. And so you'll see the dough being put through our sheeter, which is a long piece of equipment where the dough is folded over and over again with layers of butter that are put through, and then it's laid out on the table. And then our team is adding a really, really special chocolate that we import from Germany. It’s called Lubeca.

So that chocolate is spread on top of the dough and we add dark chocolate chips as well. And then it's rolled in a tight roll and then it's cut and braided.

And from there, of course, the babka is baked, brought to the front, and put into the hands of waiting customers as quickly as possible for what can only be described as a true eating experience.

The chocolate babka, it's so texturally different. You get this like crunchy outer layer. And then you get the soft, gooey inner layer. And then there's the chocolate like warmth running throughout. And this is one of the things that really does make it very special is you get all these different layers of texture in the product.

But babkas aren’t the only uniquely delicious item on the menu. The other big star at Bakey is the bagels, which are lighter and fluffier than any you’ve tasted before because — like the babkas — they aren’t made with traditional dough.

So our bagels are made with a challah dough.

I think people think about bagels, and they think about a heavy dense boiled item. And ours are super light. I mean, I like to say I could eat two of them because like I can they're not, they're not you know, half of a traditional bagel and it feels like it really fills me up. But our bagels are so light, and most of the time people find them by way of our sandwiches.

So we've got a nice array of sandwiches, smoked salmon is probably our most popular. We also do a tuna and an egg salad and a really nice garden vegetable sandwich with a bunch of different vegetables in it.

And so the softness of the bagel really lends itself to the sandwich making, and a lot of our guests will find the bagels through our sandwiches, but then realize how in love they are with them and they'll buy you know, a dozen or two to bring home.

Other items to order by the dozen include Bakey’s cheese burekas…

So bureka is just a name, another name for a savory pastry. The most classic bureka is a cheese bureka. And these are, these are like snack items. People will buy them, you know, three or four and have them as snacks.

And then we have another savory pastry that we do, which is a goat cheese croissant.

We like to say that when you eat one of our goat cheese croissants, you can judge the quality and freshness by the display of the crumbs on the plate below you.  So the wider and farther-flung the crumbs are, the fresher and more amazing the pastry is.

There is one problem when it comes to Bakey, though. And that’s not knowing what to order first. Luckily, the staff is always happy to offer recommendations, and what they recommend usually comes down to whatever just came out of the oven.

My first Bakey experience was the cinnamon, and I went in and I think, like a lot of our guests, I said what's, what's hot, what's fresh, what's perfect today?

And so the team member who was helping me that day said, Oh, the cinnamon just came out of the oven. And so I ordered one. And it was a really special, amazing cinnamon babka experience that I'll never forget.

As for what makes the Bakey experience so unforgettable, Graham says it isn’t just about the pastries, but the way they are prepared and served, each and every day.

There is nothing super, you know, proprietary or trade secret-y about what we do. But what we do is, you know, we produce our products with love, and we deliver them and we sell them with that same love.