THE SPOT: The newest location of local favorite Breads has opened along the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park recently. Hugging the border between touristy Dumbo and local Brooklyn Heights, this new stand is a welcome addition to breakfast and lunch eaters from both demographics. In addition to their famous pastries, babkas, and sandwiches, they are also offering a few new items, including a Pizza Babka. I was intrigued to say the least.
THE STYLE: It’s fitting they decided to try out this new creation in this neighborhood as their are some fun pizza rivalries nearby (see Grimaldi’s and Juliana’s and the newly arrived location of L&B Spumoni Gardens). Much like their exclusive black and white cookie in the Upper East Side, this is a fitting nod to its new neighborhood.
In terms of style, this might look like a Sicilian slice and is reminiscent of what I call roller skating rink pizza. It’s thick and saucy with cheese that seems like an afterthought. In reality, it’s truly its own thing with a base of thick braided, babka bread and layers of tomato sauce with pepper jam throughout. This thing begs to be picked up by the most influential of influencers.
THE PIZZA: I applaud that Breads takes big swings and is constantly trying to re-invent New York classics (see the black and white cookie), but I don’t think this really works. The babka texture is weird when it comes to pizza and the heavy sauce makes the bread a bit too soft and slightly soggy. At first I couldn’t tell if the bread itself was sweet or if it was the pepper jam that gave it that flavor. It was layered with a good amount of herbs and also had a hint of spice.
There’s definitely a lot going on here and the crisp edges were rich, buttery, and pretty tasty. The rest of it reminded me of the flavors of shakshuka and I truly didn’t think it was terribly thought out. Someone must have had the idea and then quickly ran with it. And decided to charge a whopping $12!
In a neighborhood that has truly great pizza and at a business that makes probably the city’s quintessential babka, this is a bit of a disappointment. It doesn’t really work as babka or pizza but rather reminds me why I like the simplicity of both those things by themselves.
| BREADS BAKERY |
| Bridge Park Drive (at Furman Street and Old Fulton Street), Brooklyn Bridge Park Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn (212) 633-2253 |
| breadsbakery.com |
