Ethnic breads

Hello chicago,
Looking for a good european style bakery close to downtown [0-10 mi.]
mainly interested in hearty breads.

partial1 wrote:Hello chicago,
Looking for a good european style bakery close to downtown [0-10 mi.]
mainly interested in hearty breads.

Welcome to LTH.

Fox and Obel, the gourmet grocery in Streeterville, carries a variety of breads baked in-house and, though I haven't tried them all, all I've tried have been very good.

Antonius

Most of the Treasure Island stores carry a selection of very dense and coarse Eastern European type breads made by Baltic Bakery, an old southside favorite.

I don't know if they have a retail operation, but Signature Breads (5806 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, 773-631-6897 & 847-215-1366) stocks extremely hearty breads in many of the Polish delis I visit. My husband loves the sunflower bread which is very dense and lists a total of 7 ingredients on the label: rye flour, unbleached flour, natural sourdough, sunflower seed, rye meal, salt & water. They have a variety available--all kinds of rye in particular. It tastes all natural; we refrigerate it otherwise it spoils quickly.

I've seen an assortment of the breads at Andy's Deli in the 5400 block of N. Milwaukee, Montrose Deli at Montrose/Long, J&J Deli, Lawrence & Austin and today in the renamed Endy's Deli (looks like new owners, same food) at Milwaukee/Lawndale in Avondale. I would call to see where they distribute. Smacznego--Anna Sobor

In my search for Lithuanian Rye Bread, I rediscovered this bakery in Bridgeport. BRUNO'S BAKERY in Bridgeport at 3339 S. Lituanica, which is near 35th and Halsted. I have to admit that I hadn't tried this bakery until yesterday. They had a small but decent selection of about 6-7 different breads including whole wheat, polish rye, dark rye, egg raisin breads. I love the fact that the bread don't have high fructose corn syrup and calcium propionate. I can read and understand the nine ingredients on my egg raisin bread !! Although I would prefer to have a few more raisins in it.

I remember seeing the UPS man picking up deliveries particularly around the holidays. That's how I rediscovered this bakery.

After reading some of the other threads on breads, I am excited to try Austrian Bakery and the Russian stores on Devon.

In regards to Lithuanian Dark Rye Bread, other than Baltic Bakery, is there any other bakery that makes this? I recall a bakery on the corner of 35th Street and Emerald - again near 35th and Halsted - but it has since closed. I heard that it might have been called Cicero Bakery? Anyone know of another source for Lithuanian Rye Bread?

Peety wrote:Anyone know of another source for Lithuanian Rye Bread?

Duke’s, first mentioned in this post from Marija, is a great new Lithuanian restaurant and deli. I’m very impressed with the place and have been meaning to post more on it. For now, I’ll just mention that the deli carries a variety of rye breads imported from Lithuania. I tried a couple and liked them a lot. They’re heavy, dense breads which don’t seem to suffer much from their time in transit. If you want real Lithuanian bread (and some interesting deli items, as well as excellent Lithuanian meals) I don’t think you’ll do any better in Chicago.

Thanks for the report on Bruno’s. I’ve had their breads before but never visited the bakery. It’s on my list now.

Duke’s
6312 S Harlem Av
Summit IL
708-594-5622