LANDMARK

Of all the bakeries in New York, it is a special privilege to operate Vesuvio's in Soho - a landmark of the New York bakery world.  As many food lovers know, Vesuvio's these days is Vesuvio's in name only - it has been a Birdbath Green Bakery since 2009. One of the wonderful things about being attached to an icon, is discovering it used as inspiration for art so often, as some of the paintings below make clear...

I can attest to the fact that 95 years after it opened, the classic green storefront continues to inspire. This morning on my way to the bakery,  I was stopped by a street painter setting up at Washington Square who was a Vesuvio's customer for decades and knows I'm the baker who runs the place today. "I have something for you!" she said as she ran to the trunk of her jeep. She handed me the piece above -  instantly the most unique rendering of Vesuvio's I've ever seen - the results she said of a collaboration between her and a granddaughter. It is sewn and stitched - and - indelibly special.