This Eastern PA Bakery Is One Of The Nation's Best, New York Times Says

PHILADELPHIA — Bakeries are an integral part of Philadelphia's food culture. You can't have a great hoagie, roast pork sandwich, or cheesesteak without a great roll.

But many Philly bakeries also cook up elegant sweet treats.

And that's the kind of Philadelphia bakery that the New York Times recently listed as one of the best in the nation.

The Times recently published "22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now."

According to the piece, the nation is seeing "a bakery renaissance is underway, fueled by a convergence of economics, post-Covid restaurant changes, diners’ tastes and the marketing power of social media."

Brian Gallagher for the Times said the baked goods gold rush is led by "former fine-dining pastry chefs and entrepreneurial hobbyists-turned-professionals alike."

Among these bakeries making waves in the food scene is Philadelphia's Machine Shop.

Located in the Bok Building at 1901 S. Ninth Street, a former auto body shop and technical high school, Machine Shop is owned and operated by Emily Riddell, who in 2022 was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's best new chefs, and in 2023 was nominated for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. In 2022 Machine Shop won an Eater Best New Restaurant award.

Here's what New York Times writer Regan Stephens had to say about Machine Shop:

In a former auto body shop in a one-time technical high school, Emily Riddell is transforming freshly milled flour and sugar and seasonal produce into laminated pastries like jammy egg and pepper croissants, orange cardamom morning buns and quince Danish. When the pandemic abruptly halted their wholesale baking business, Ms. Riddell and her then-business partner, Katie Lynch, pivoted, starting pop-ups to sell treats directly to the public on the building’s first floor. By 2022, Riddell had converted the space into a full-fledged bakery selling viennoiserie, as well as delicate canelés, cookies made with three types of ginger, and beautiful lemon tarts capped with torched meringue. The shop’s car lift and air pump remain — alongside velvet banquettes and a huge custom pastry case popping with some of the city’s best baked goods.

Machine Shop is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Check out Machine Shop online here.

See the full list from the New York Times online here.