Thomas MacMillan
Just before Christmas, Judies European Bakery on Grove Street served its last loaf of peasant bread and shut its doors for good.
After years of serving up soups and sandwiches on Grove Street and delivering bread to local stores, Judies fell victim to “the continued downturn in the economy.”
That’s the way chef and owner Dave Brooks explained the sudden closure in an email to catering customers sent out on Saturday, Dec. 22. Brooks couldn’t be reached for further comment.
“It is with deep regret that I must inform you that after 15 years in business Judies European Bakery will be closing its doors forever, effective immediately,” Brooks wrote in the letter. “Every effort has been made to avoid this unfortunate result.”
The abrupt cessation of bread deliveries took some Judies customers by surprise. Edge of the Woods’ Peter Dodge said the last delivery his natural foods store received from Judies was on Dec. 24. “It caught us off guard,” Dodge said.
Romeo & Cesare Gourmet market’s Fran Simeone said deliveries to the Italian grocery stopped on Saturday, Dec. 22. “We got a letter a couple days later.”
Simeone said the letter offered an apology for any inconvenience.
“It was a popular bread,” Simeone said. “It’s sad.”
Everyone loved Judies “peasant bread,” she said. “It was like Judies bread, you know? That nobody makes.”
A visit to the bakery on Grove Street this week found a darkened storefront with a sign indicating only that Judies would be closed for the holidays.
