Park Slope's 5th Avenue Is Getting A New Artisan Bakery

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A new bakehouse opening on 5th Avenue this spring might be new for Park Slopers, but it is actually 10 years in the making for its bread-enthusiast owners.

Business partners Shari Call and Julissa Escobedo are getting ready to open Simple Loaf Bakehouse in the space at 310 5th Avenue, between 2nd and 3rd Street. And although the two have worked together in the baking world for years, Simple Loaf is their first foray into owning a bakery of their own.

The pair first met in Cape Cod through mutual friends in the world of French baking and quickly became friends. They continued to work together with the dream of opening their own bakery and on a happenstance trip to Brooklyn last year, decided Park Slope was the perfect place to make it happen, Call said.

"We got off the subway and we both were kind of like, 'Oh my god, this is it,'" she said. "That is where it all started. We're both so happy to be right (on 5th Avenue) and really love the neighborhood."

Call, who is from Los Angeles, found her passion for bread-making shortly before going to baking school in San Fransisco, where she studied under famed chef Michel Suas. Escobedo, who worked in the hotel industry in Las Vegas, was the right-hand for another French baker who would end up introducing the two, Boris Vilatte.

While helping out friends at a bakery in Key West together, Call and Escobedo started discussing where they should open their own bakehouse. They considered Key West, Los Angeles, Miami and other spots, but nothing felt quite right, Call said.

The Park Slope neighborhood, though, had a mix of families and appreciation for artisan, homemade goods seemed to be the perfect match, she said.

The Simple Loaf bakehouse will likely open in May and will offer both their hand-made artisan breads, but also a range of sandwiches, croissants, muffins and other baked goods. The bakery will include windows both in the dining area and on the outside that will let customers and passersby watch the complex bread making process, Call said.

"As you're walking by you can see bakers unloading and loading the bread and see what's going on," she said.

The bread, which takes three days to make, will include sourdough, multigrain, a Brooklyn-rye, challah bread on Fridays and the duo's signature spelt baguette or country bread with buckwheat.

"People tase it and say, 'this is really good,'" Call said. "What is it about this bread?"