Amy's Bread

Profile

While her wholesale business is expanding fast—200 daily deliveries and counting—Amy Scherber has grown her retail chainlet more cautiously. This spare West Village outpost is only the third Amy’s Bread location, and, unfortunately, it’s the least inviting. It lacks the lived-in charm of the original Hell’s Kitchen location or the theatrical baking of Chelsea Market’s central kitchen. Though not worth a special trip, Amy’s is an appealing option if, say, the wait at Pearl Oyster Bar around the corner becomes interminable. Sandwiches and salads arrive fresh from Long Island City each morning and usually sell out by mid-afternoon. Semolina-raisin-and-fennel bread, Amy’s signature loaf, catapults a moist roast turkey sandwich into the comfort-food stratosphere. Sturdy soups come from Hale and Hearty and make respectable foils for the companion bread of the day. Since the tiny marble-topped tables barely allow room for two adults each, the effect is more grim than cozy. — Michael Kaminer