In SoHo, high-end retail isn’t confined to the boutiques: a new bakery is now selling a single loaf of bread for $60.
It’s sold at the eponymous bakery, Rye, at 285 Lafayette St. The first American outpost of the Austrian bakery Martin Auer makes the bread with just water, flour and salt, according to The Guardian.
The high price reflects high operating costs in SoHo and the expense of importing flour from Austria.
The same loaf at its sister bakery in Vienna goes for about $16. In Graz, the loaf costs less than $15.
Co-owner Tim Auer told People the bread-making process isn’t simple.
“You need to ferment the rye sourdough,” Auer said. “You need to feed it every day. That takes about 24 hours before you can use it again. Then you need to make the dough, ferment the dough of the bread, shave the bread, ferment the dough again, bake it, and then you have to let it rest.”
According to The Guardian, the bread is displayed and sold as a luxury item. The unusually large loaf is also sold by the half for $30 and by the quarter for $15.
But New Yorkers know the pricey loaf is not alone. Happier Grocery, a short walk away, is a gourmet grocery store that sells smoothies for $17 and muffins for nearly $10.
Meadow Lane, another luxury grocery store just a 10-minute walk away, that sells eggs for $18, according to Tribeca Citizen.
But Rick Camac, a restaurateur and executive director of industry relations at the Institute of Culinary Education, told The Guardian he believes luxury foods are “a conversation piece.”
“To some degree, people think that it’s bragging rights,” Camac said.
The viral bread certainly piques one’s curiosity.
Gadi Peleg, founder of Breads Bakery, told The Guardian the slice he tried was “amazing.”