Say it ain\u2019t dough.<\/p>\n
After 124 years, Caputo\u2019s Bake Shop<\/a>, a fixture of Brooklyn neighborhood Carroll Gardens, has baked its last loaf of Italian bread. And owner James Caputo is overwhelmed at the thought of saying goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t cried since I was a child, and I thought I never would again,\u201d Caputo, 54, told The Post of the wrenching, sudden decision to close the family business that his Sicilian immigrant great-grandfather originally opened at the dawn of the 20th century.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t stop getting emotional over this. But at the same time, a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n James Caputo, owner of Caputo\u2019s Bake Shop, poses inside the beloved, nearly cleaned-out bakery on Thursday. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n A staple of the Brooklyn neighborhood it has called home since horse-and-carriages rolled on its streets, Caputo\u2019s was a carboholic\u2019s dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a part of your childhood is being ripped away,\u201d Danielle Caminitti, a former Carroll Gardens resident who was a customer since her youth, told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n Known for their crisp loaves of Italian bread, savory, meat-filled lard bread, and an array of Old- and New-World desserts, Caputo said he\u2019d been grappling with closing up the bake shop, considering the demanding schedule that comes with being a baker as he nears retirement age.\u00a0<\/p>\n In kneed of a break<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 25 years of running a business that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it was time,\u201d said Caputo, who at one point would arrive for work at 2 a.m. and missed countless family events.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gotten [to be] a lot for me. The only people who don\u2019t ask why we are closing are the ones in the bakery business, because they completely understand.\u201d<\/p>\n A passerby checks out notes from well-wishers that were attached to the closed store\u2019s door. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n James Caputo (in vest) and his father, John (seated), pose for a portrait with bakery staff members on Thursday. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n After conferring with his family and grappling with the decision to give up the business he took over from his father Joe, Caputo ruled out passing it on to anybody else due to its deep family history.<\/p>\n He also figured that if he announced he was closing in advance, he would reverse course.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the most difficult decision I ever had to make in my entire life,\u201d Caputo, who was born and raised around the bakery and even lived upstairs from it growing up, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt finally got to the point where I said, \u2018I have to do this,\u2019 and if I didn\u2019t rip the Band-Aid off all at once, it would never happen. I would be there \u2019til the day I die. So I held my breath, sat down in front of my computer, and started typing my last goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday morning, April 27, he taped his farewell letter<\/a> on the bakery\u2019s door: \u201cIt is with immense sadness that I am writing to tell you the flame in our oven has been lit for the last time,\u201d he proclaimed in part, adding, \u201cLast night was the last night of production.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Caputo\u2019s departing message (center right) and a worn \u201cWe are Hiring!\u201d sign are surrounded by notes from well-wishers. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n In its wake, a baker\u2019s dozen of flabbergasted New Yorkers are paying their hunger-inducing respects.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy life hasn\u2019t been the same since, with all of the messages I\u2019ve been getting,\u201d Caputo said, referring to an outpouring of emotion from generations of fans whose lives have been entwined with the bake shop like a loaf of twisted bread.\u00a0New Yorker food critic Helen Rosner even called Caputo\u2019s \u201cthe epitome\u201d<\/a> of Italian bakeries.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Please, please change your mind!!\u2019<\/p>\n Many mourners have turned the shop\u2019s doorstep into a makeshift shrine, taping well wishes on its windows \u2014 \u201cThere is love and gratitude and now \u2026 grief,\u201d read one, while another urged, \u201cPlease, please change your mind!!\u201d \u2014 and leaving flowers at the doorstep.<\/p>\n A note from Tic Tac Daycare in Brooklyn Heights contains vibrant children\u2019s drawings and writing. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n This sign was from other \u201cheartbroken\u201d customers. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n The local Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Catholic Parish in the neighborhood went so far as to post on Instagram<\/a>: \u201cFor generations, it was more than a bakery. Sunday mornings after church, holidays, family traditions \u2014 you could taste the love and history in everything they made.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEver since I was little, I remember having their loaves of lard bread,\u201d former nabe resident Caminitti explained to The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverything was delicious, from their Sicilian olive bread and taralli. Every week we\u2019d have their semolina bread with Sunday sauce as a family, and every morning I\u2019d have their cranberry walnut bread,\u201d continued Caminitti, author of the cookbook \u201c<\/a>From Courtroom to Cucina: 70 Authentic Recipes that Took Me From Litigation to Salivation<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like the famous expression: \u2018Crying with a loaf of bread under your arm,\u2019 but I guess I\u2019m crying without the bread under it now,\u201d she lamented.<\/p>\n