VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
MATT SHEREMETA: THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO BAKE BREAD… THE COLUMBUS BAKERY WAY. ATLEAST… THAT’S WHAT AIDEN RETZOS WOULD TELL YOU
AIDEN RETZOS: ITS THE BEST BREAD IN TOWN, IT’S BEEN THE BEST BREAD IN TOWN FOR 130 YEARS
SHEREMETA: THEY’VE BEEN DOING IT THE SAME WAY SINCE 1895… THE SAME RECIPE, BAKED FRESH DAILY, BECOMING A TRUE COMMUNITY STAPLE. NOT ONLY FOR THOSE CREEKING THROUGH THE DOOR EVERYDAY, BUT FOR CHRIS WOJTALEWSKI FROM SPERA’S DELI IN CICERO, AS SHE BRINGS A HUNDRED LOAVES BACK TO HER STORE FOR EVEN MORE CUSTOMERS.
CHRIS WOJTALEWSKI: IT SELLS ITSELF, WE DON’T ADVERTISE ANYTHING – WE PUT A SIGN OUT FRONT, BUT THEY KNOW NOW. I’VE BEEN BRINGING IT FOR ELEVEN YEARS, SO THEY KNOW EVERYDAY AT 11 O’CLOCK THAT I’LL BE PULLING IN WITH THE BREAD AND THE DOUGH, THEY WAIT FOR ME.
SHEREMETA: THEY WAIT, BECAUSE THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO EXPECT… AS NOTHING HAS CHANGED ABOUT THE BAKERY. FROM THE BRICK OVENS IN THE BACK TO THE OLD WOODEN BENCHES OUT FRONT…AND TIMELESS IS AN ABSOLUTE UNDERSTATEMENT AS THIS BAKERY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AND THIS DOOR BEHIND ME IS A REVOLVING DOOR OF FACES NEW AND OLD, PEOPLE JUST PICKING UP A LOAF.. AND IF YOU’RE MARTY LAMON FROM WATERTOWN, YOU’RE PICKING UP TEN LOAVES, AND YOU’RE SHARING THE LOVE TO YOUR NEIGHBORS BACK AT HOME
MARTY LAMON: I’VE BEEN COMING DOWN HERE FOR PROBABLY 30-40 YEARS AND WE JUST LOVE THIS BREAD. AND MY NEIGHBORS, WHEN THEY TRY IT, THE FIRST THING THEY SAY IS CAN YOU GET ME ANOTHER LOAF WHEN YOU GO BACK DOWN THERE
SHEREMETA: LAMON USED TO HEAD UP TO WATERTOWN WITH TWO LOAVES… THAT NUMBER JUST SEEMS TO KEEP GROWING. AND ITS GROWING HERE TOO… SOMEHOW, PEOPLE ARE STILL DISCOVERING THIS LOCAL TREASURE
RETZOS: SOMETIMES YOU GET SURPRISED WHEN PEOPLE HAVEN’T HEARD OF A PLACE THAT’S SO OLD, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THAT HAPPENS. BUT YOU KNOW THEY COME IN HERE AND TRY BREAD, FRESH BREAD, AND WE START SEEING THEM MORE AND MORE.
SHEREMETA: EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, THE BAKERY KEEPS RISING TO THE TOP. DOING THINGS THE SAME WAY… WITH THE SAME RECIPE… JUST HOW IT’S ALWAYS BEEN… THE COLUMBUS BAKERY WAY. IN SYRACUSE… MATT SHEREMETA… N-C-C NEWS.
The list of things you’d drive over an hour for is likely pretty small. And picking up a loaf of bread probably isn’t on that list. Unless you’re Marty Lamon.
“I’ve been coming here for thirty or forty years, and we just love this bread,” Lamon said, carrying ten fresh loaves out to his truck.
Lamon works for Husky Corporation, a job that brings him across the nation. On his way back to his Watertown home, Columbus Bakery in Syracuse is a must-stop destination – not only to pick up a loaf for himself, but also for his next-door neighbors.
“I’m giving them something they’re never going to have, they’re not going to find bread like this up where I am,” Lamon said. “My neighbors, when they try it, the first thing they say is ‘hey, will you get me another loaf when you go back down?’”
Columbus Bakery has been at 502 Pearl St. in Syracuse since 1895, solidifying itself as a true community staple. Everything remains the same since opening 130 years ago, from the brick ovens in the back to the simple recipe of water, flour, salt and yeast.
Even the old cash-only register still stands. Customers new and old walk through the creaky glass door to pick up their choice of bread: a flat, a point, or a sandwich loaf. Customers can also grab pizza dough and sauce from the fridge.
The bakery has been run by the Retzos family for four generations, with Aiden Retzos currently working alongside his dad, Jimmy Retzos Jr., looking to be the fifth generation business owner.
“I’m working here for him, trying my best for him, just like he did for his dad, and his dad did for his dad. Just continuing the tradition,” Aiden Retzos said.
Columbus’ famous bread is just as big a hit in Cicero. Chris Wojtalewski picks up 100 loaves of bread to bring to Spera’s Deli, where she’s a manager, every morning at 11 a.m. Customers wait outside of the Cicero deli for Wojtalewski to pull up in her red van.
“The bread girls here,” said Wojtalewski. “The bread sells itself; we don’t advertise anything. We put a sign out front, but people know now. I’ve been bringing it for 11 years.”
A stop at Columbus is a ritual for people like Lamon and Wojtalewski, who have both been visiting the bakery for over a decade. But there are some people who haven’t yet uncovered this community treasure.
“How cool is that?” said one first-time customer, as they took pictures of the gallery wall, the old cash register, and the brick ovens in the back. As faces may continue to change, those things will remain constant. The bread, too, of course.
“Being the baker making the bread, it just makes me feel good that people still enjoy the taste of our bread,” said Aiden. “Sometimes you get surprised that people haven’t heard of a place that’s so old, but you know what, that happens. They come here and try bread, fresh bread, and then you start seeing them more and more. And that’s pretty special to me.”