Old Fashioned Bakeries...where are they now?

Louisville, at one time, was know as the "City of Bakeries"....These often were small in nature and baking was always on the premises. Their halmark was..FRESH...Often people in the neighborhoods knew the baking schedules and lined up outside for a special item.

An example of a good Old Fashioed bakery is Plehns of St Matthews..I hope it will always survive.

Once such names as Mann s, Wholeb s, Nihls, Lehmanns,Wiegant s, Ehrmann s, Heitzman s were part of the time honored profession of baking.They now belong to history.

What is your favorite bakery? Do they have a specialty? Are there any old fashioned ones left other than St Matthews?

Great topic Jim. sadly, most of these type of bakeries have been put out of business because of the convenience of buying baked goods at the "bakery" at the supermarket. Those supermarket baked goods are so inferior to what is sold at places like Plehn's, but most folks want to do all of their shopping in one place. St. Matthews is one of those places where you can still get your food from independent purveyors. I hope Plehn's is always there as well.

Another good spot is Nord's on Preston north of Eastern Parkway.

Heitzman's still is open with a store on Shelbyville Road just past Hurstborne.

I agree there's nothing like a true family run bakery for great treats. Louisville does have several specialty bakeries for cakes or pies but very few full line bakeries still exist. I'm surprised with the recent surge in natural foods we haven't seen a resurgence in true bakeries to replace generic breads and other baked goods that are found in stores. Maybe (hopefully) more of these will come back in the future!

[Robin Garr]

What is your favorite bakery? Do they have a specialty? Are there any old fashioned ones left other than St Matthews?

I know this isn't really what you meant by "old-fashioned," but Blue Dog is amazing ... world class.

It's tough to make it in the baking biz. I think that why many of us specialize. Blue Dog and Village for breads, others of us for wedding and special occasion cakes. And most bakeries are not baking from scratch anymore either.

I hope Plehn's will shine on. Starting with 4th birthday my mum would take me there and let me pick the top design for my birthday cake. I have continued that tradition with my son and he really looks forward to it every year.

You can still get lots of home made pies at Thornberry's . The place has a literal wall of pies whenever there's a holiday. Good time to stop on the way back from Vietnamese Kitchen or if you live in the neighborhood like I do, anytime. We'll be combining with a trip to Heinie Bros. when it opens at Southern Parkway at Woodlawn. Now If we can get Graters to wake up and come over here my life will be complete.

GG.

You can still get lots of home made pies at Thornberry's . The place has a literal wall of pies whenever there's a holiday. Good time to stop on the way back from Vietnamese Kitchen or if you live in the neighborhood like I do, anytime. We'll be combining with a trip to Heinie Bros. when it opens at Southern Parkway at Woodlawn. Now If we can get Graters to wake up and come over here my life will be complete.

GG.

Gary, just to be sure, you say heine brothers is coming to Beechmont? Ditto on Thornberry's by the way, their brownies are the thunder.

I have to say, without a doubt, Blue Dog is the best(at least in my opinion). Bob and Kit are two of my favorite people. Met them when they first moved here and use to come in to El Mundo for dinner. Love their breads and the scones, if you can get there early enough, are the best!! Just like my Grandma use to make.
All hail the mighty Blue Dog!!!

Here's the Link on Heine coming to Beechmont

http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louis ... tory7.html

I heard it will be open in about 3 months.

I can't wait

GG.

Davis's Doughnut Shop on the site now occupied by a Sonic across Winkler from a Dairy Queen, in the South End. It broke my heart when they closed and tore it down. I did try Plehn's recently tho and they are the closest I've found to Davis's. Wonderful!

You can still get lots of home made pies at Thornberry's . The place has a literal wall of pies whenever there's a holiday. Good time to stop on the way back from Vietnamese Kitchen or if you live in the neighborhood like I do, anytime. We'll be combining with a trip to Heinie Bros. when it opens at Southern Parkway at Woodlawn. Now If we can get Graters to wake up and come over here my life will be complete.

GG.

Great to hear that a Heine Brothers is opening up in the South End...It was not too long ago when South End folks had no choice but to drive Downtown or to the Highlands to get an espresso based drink...I really hope this Heine Brothers location does well...BTW...I would love to trade one of my East End Graeter's for one of your South End Vietnamese restaurants that serve Banh Mi...That would make my foodie lifestyle complete...LOL...

Let's not forget Nord's on Preston. There are many fewer to be sure. In the early 20th century some church's would have a 3 or 4 a.m. mass called the Baker's Mass since they were finishing up their work day.

Let's not forget Nord's on Preston.

check the second post of the thread!

Ron wrote

check the second post of the thread!

Ron, I think I started salivating so heavily when you mentioned Plehn's that I didn't get to your astute mention of Nord's.