Written by: Beth Taylor Photography by: Hayden Rose
Workers arrive at 5:00 a.m. six days a week to bake billowy puffs of pita bread at Brookline’s Pitaland Mediterranean Bakery. The 17 local employees do not need to watch the parking meter while on the job because every one of them live within walking distance of their workplace. Their beloved boss, business owner Joe Chahine, has been baking the bread of his childhood in the area since 1974 and his story reads like an exemplary tale of the American Dream.
In the right front of the store is a large observation window where on a busy Saturday morning you can see the pitas, cooled by fans, as the travel along a conveyor belt from the oven. Passing a beautiful cart full of buckets of olives, you travel toward the rows of imported Mediterranean foods. Customers sit at the counter awaiting their freshly made lunch or select prepared foods from the cases in the back of the store.
Recently, an injury kept Joe away from work. In his absence, customers called regularly inquiring about his progress, and sent best wishes and prayers for his recovery. His presence provides the essence of the store. Two young brothers, with noses pressed against the glass, watched the pita loaves roll off of the line. Joe invited them into the bakery, and gave each a paper towel, and told them to grasp a loaf from the line. The brothers savored the warm bread, a food memory made. That you do not get in a big box grocery store.
Issue #18 can be viewed below or online at https://issuu.com/jeffrose3/docs/local_issue18_full_web
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