Where are all the Delish bakeries

[Beringia]

I couldn't stand the cheap bread at the local supermarket Tonys in Berwyn and longed for some good Bakery bread, fresh. There used to be a Czech bakery close by named Vesecky's and they closed up in 2023, presumably because of all growing old, but I wonder if their business was suffering from not enough customers.

Vesecky's Bakery in Berwyn closed in Dec 2023
https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/veseckys-bakery-in-berwyn-closing-tuesday-after-over-100-years/

And I looked around for any nearby bakery, and found just one, an Italian bakery and deli named Vesuvios in North Riverside, thank goodness still open. And I wondered how long before they too go out of business. Berwyn and Cicero are all Mexican now. There was a store on Cermak called La Baguette, so I went in and they had no bread, but they kept the sign.



I looked up the Ethnicity in Chicagoland area and it was interesting. So I made a custom pic of it. You can visit the site too and zoom in for better view.

I found the perfect map
https://bestneighborhood.org/race-in-chicago-il/

[riversedge]

1. There is a bakery-next to my town which mom said had been there for decades--then sold cause

they were getting quite elderly. Anyway-new owners now. I went in to get some fresh bread and they had none. I asked if or when they would have bread and he said only on Thursdays--be mixes and lets it rise overnight. He said people did not buy the bread--only the sweet stuff.

I did not ask why. Probably too expensive. Just my guess--

[HeartsCanHope]

2. We used to have an Italian bakery in my town, but the owners retired.

None of their children wanted to carry on the family tradition. There are some bakeries in the metropolitan area I live in, but they are far away. I take a medication that doesn't allow for soybean oil, so I make my own bread now. It's not hard and it is delicious. I learned from this cookbook, The United States of Bread by Adrienne Kane. She makes the process easy. I love to knead my bread by hand, but she tells you how to use a dough hook. All you need is a good mixer and some loaf pans. Maybe if you can't find a good bakery nearby, try making your own!

[Beringia]

3. Thanks HeartsCanHope

I have tried many bread recipes and some are almost passable, but nothing I would rave about or even want to make over and over. I have tried Julia Child bread, Amish White bread, Dense white bread from Cooking with Sue.

I have had success with making naan and recently fresh homemade flour tortillas.

I recently got a book called Inside The Jewish Bakery: Recipes from the Golden age of Jewish Baking from 2011, and I want to try their recipes. I will also try your suggestion United States of Bread by Adrienne Kane. I have never wanted to invest in a mixer because I only make bread every few months or so and I have a small amount of kitchen counter space. Plus it does end of taking up half of a precious weekend day to make it.




https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13013062-inside-the-jewish-bakery

Thanks again for your help