Essen Bakery has reportedly closed for good, following a monthslong pause that left employees in the dark.

Tova du Plessis, co-owner of the acclaimed business, told the Inquirer that she and her husband Brad had permanently shuttered their locations in South Philadelphia and Norris Square. The couple is considering filing for bankruptcy after several plans to relaunch collapsed, she added. Du Plessis, an alum of Zahav, received James Beard Award nominations for outstanding baker four times during the bakery’s run from 2016 to 2025. Essen specialized in Jewish breads and pastries like challah, babka and rugelach. 

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Tova and Brad du Plessis did not immediately respond to request for comment. The Essen Bakery website has expired.

When the Du Plessises initially closed their stores on May 31, they characterized the move as a three-day “pause” to take care of “our people, our health, and our future.” Several former employees said the announcement was news to them, and that their bosses kept delaying the relaunch in vague, scattered Slack messages. Eventually, the workers say, they stopped communicating with their staff altogether. 

The sources who spoke to PhillyVoice also alleged that unemployment benefits were offered late in the process, only after an employee asked, and some did not qualify for assistance, adding to their mounting financial difficulties. Workers who left comments on Essen Bakery social media pages asking about the situation noticed their remarks disappeared; they say they were subsequently blocked.

When the Du Plessises later described the ordeal as an opportunity to address their mental health struggles — and claimed “most, if not all, employees have been able to secure other jobs” — in a July 30 interview with the Inquirer, former staffers felt insulted. One of them discussed their bosses’ behavior on TikTok.

“To just be blindsided and ghosted and then only to see and be spoken to and spoken about through an article — that just didn’t sit right with me,” Maranda Leecan, who posted the video, later said. “It made me feel mistreated and it made me feel like my story, what we went through, wasn’t going to be told.”

Ginny Payne, a former front-of-house worker, said the silence continued long after the summer. She did not hear of the permanent closure until Tuesday, when PhillyVoice reached out for comment.

“I think finally getting the confirmation that the place is closing is a load off of my mind, knowing that officially that chapter is over,” she said via email. “At least now I can officially say to job interviewers that the place went out of business.”

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