Vesuvio Bakery is finally getting reoccupied

I’ve seen Vesuvio closed for almost a year now, noting earlier this year that it was up for sale. I just read this NYMag post that it’s finally getting reoccupied by City Bakery’s newest launch of Birdbath. I just hope its not all vegan!

Here’s the rest of the post:

When the City Bakery’s Maury Rubin launched his first Birdbath, he coined a catchphrase for the ecofriendly enterprise: Build a Green Bakery. In the case of his third branch, though, slated to open in October in Soho, there was no building involved. He only had to lease it. The bakery in question was already one of New York’s most famous—the 89-year-old Vesuvio, a cherished remnant of a pre-Soho Soho. Even though in recent times it was known more for its iconic façade than for its coal-oven-baked loaves, Vesuvio’s passing struck a chord with urban nostalgists, guidebook-toting tourists, and especially, it seems, with Rubin, who immediately engaged in “very intense, very personal jockeying for it.” Rubin ultimately triumphed, in large part thanks to his commitment to leave the shell virtually untouched. “It’s an heirloom, it’s a treasure, it means the world,” he says. “That I have a chance to have my bakery be in it is a gift.” Ironically, Rubin’s retiring the ancient ovens for now, mostly because of the owners’ fire-hazard fears. Even so, the deal makes sense: Birdbath was originally conceived as the next-generation iteration of the neighborhood bakeries that were disappearing from New York. And by keeping the structure intact (save a new reclaimed-wood banquette and LED lights), Rubin is perpetrating what he calls “the ultimate bakery recycling.” To suit the sixteen-seat setting, there will be a made-to-order menu, a first for Birdbath, with cinnamon toast, microwaved eggs (“Low energy!” says Rubin), and “neighborhood mozzarella” pressed with tomato and basil, plus new pastries like rice-milk-raisin scones. Also, for the first time in Birdbath history, espresso. This is one place, says Rubin, preservationist pâtissier, that “really requires espresso.”

Lunch in the Park in winter?

It’s FUCKING fridgid in NYC and I hear it’s going to drop more in the next week. I enjoy the option to work at home and wonder the neighborhood to find chill spots to people watch, read and take a break from the work day. One such spot is Vesuvio Playground on Thompson. It’s my playground for free tennis practice in the spring/summer and a good spot to watch the tourists, models and locals wonder off the SOHO strip mall. I’ll be waiting for the spring in 4 months to hit this spot again.

Unfortunately the bakery the park is named after is still closed and just last month it was found, up for sale. It will be missed less for it’s expensive coffee and breads but as a very cozy local Italian bakery to hang out in the winter time, read a historic biography or grab a classic cannoli.

The notice of apology and commitment to reopen which has still not been realized since Vesuvio’s closure in mid-2008.