Community Architect Daily: The HS Bakery Store: From Rags to Riches

I recall vividly my disappointment when, fresh from the boat in 1986, I followed my nose detecting the yeasty small of fresh baking to the H&S bakery outlet store. The smells had been deceiving: There was no warm crusty bread ready to be sliced, there were no rolls that deserved that name. Instead the place had the charm of a wholesale grab and run where a forklift wouldn't have been out of place except for lack of space. The goods looked stale, just like the sliced white bread, the hamburger and the hot dog buns that masqueraded as the bakery section in the grocery stores of the time, except cheaper. Everything ensconced in plastic, the outlet had nothing that was reminiscent of a Greek bakery, even less of the German ones I was used to with their rich selection of different bread loaves, rolls, pretzels and sweets on display in traditional wicker baskets and served over the counter.

When a bakery becomes a "bake-lab". (Photo Philipsen)

So with great anticipation I visited H&S new bakery this week, some 36 years later when bread selections in the US have come a long way. H&S new incarnation is called Kneads Bakeshop and goes from thrift to luxury in one giant leap.

On this warm and sunny spring day the place was buzzing. It is instantly clear that lots of people wanted to check out how far the Baltimore icon bakery had come.

To cut straight to the chase: As far as it has come, the new brainchild of H&S "NextGen" isn't any closer to a European style bakery than grandfather's outlet store. I am sure, most people won't mind.

The “next gens” of the family, grandchildren of John Paterakis, teamed up to create Kneads, a bakeshop & café inspired by a shared familial history of artisanal craft, infused with the advancements in baking technology, enveloped in an elegant blend between rustic and contemporary aesthetics. The next gens, Adam, Kira, Shawn, and Ryan Paterakis, are proud to present, Kneads Bakeshop! (website)

The old thrift store in Fells Point (Archive photo from website)

It is nice to see that the grandchildren came to a consensus after the Paterakis family for years had garnered headlines for their feuding over the old man's estate. It is also nice to see that their bakery products can range beyond Hamburger buns.

But even for folks who could care less about the character of European bakeries the product of the next-gen brainstorming may have strayed just too far.

This isn't really a "shop" (kneadsbakeshop.com) but rather a very large well designed "wait to be seated" self-order restaurant cum gift shop plus a showcase bakery ("bakelab") operation behind glass in the background. There even is a loft to look down on the bakers in the "bake-lab". The design is from the local architectural branch of CI Design, also located in Harbor East.

While sweets get a prominent spot in a glass case at the counter where the orders are placed, the main bakery staples, bread, baguettes, and bagels, are relegated to the side, where they are sitting in the sun of the storefront on a shelf , hidden behind olive oils, soaps and other giftshop style items. Set up for self-service, the "hand crafted" breads are once again encased in plastic bags which means, the crust will get soft, a mistake that most bakeries selling artisan bread learned to avoid.

Old world bakery (Amsterdam 2023, photo Philipsen)

Prices are generally reminiscent of a jewelry store. .Baguettes go for $4.and no bread is less than $7. A multigrain bread costs $9, (a similar bread at Giant or Lidl costs $4.99). In the food section "two eggs any style" are $17, a hamburger costs $21 (one has to hope that it is significantly better than those $2.89 ones at McDonalds, famously featuring H&S' soft buns). A soup costs $14 and even a crème brulé desert sets you back $15. A bottle of Natty Boh can be had for a reasonable $5 but if you want to go for a glass of wine, nothing is less than $13!

While the restaurant area is attractive and well appointed, this isn't a Vienna coffee shop where one can "park at a table", unfold the laptop and stretch a single cup of coffee for hours on end. To do this (slow food?) one would do better going to the nearby upper level of Whole Foods with its view of City Dock and the Living Classroom where one can even chill on an outdoor deck on Adirondack chairs without having to take out a mortgage first.

Sweets and dessert display at Kneads (Photo Philipsen)

This conversion from the old thrift and wholesale store to the new chic establishment befits the trajectory of Harbor East where Kneads is located, and there isn't much wrong that. A large city such as Baltimore should have at least one district with higher end stores and restaurants.

For the more budget minded lovers of Old World style crusty bread, the new Kneads store isn't the only choice.

Nowadays there are plenty of bakeries in the area that have recognized that there are, indeed, better things than sliced bread.

Local bake shops that sell a variety of crusty old World style breads have become plentiful, even though, most of them charge significantly more than their counterparts in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin or Vienna, for reasons that are not entirely clear. But if budget really matters, one can now get Euro style breads at Whole Foods, at Wegman's and, even at the German discounter Lidl, where they sell for a reasonable cost. For a treat, try out Kneads, its worth a visit.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

Banner article about the Kneads opening

Photo Gallery (all photos Klaus Philipsen):