About Us
Amy’s Bread, founded by Amy Scherber, specializes in hand-made, traditional breads as well as sandwiches, breakfast pastries, cookies, bars, and delicious layer cakes. Her company has bread and pastry kitchens in Long Island City, Queens, three retail cafes in New York City, and cafes in the New York Public Library, Museum of the City of New York, and New York Design Center. Amy is passionate about delicious homemade food that is nutritious and wholesome. The company is committed to the neighborhoods where our stores are located, and we have great appreciation for our loyal customers who have been so supportive over the past 2 challenging years.
Fresh, Handmade, Local
Our Mission Statement
To create a bakery and café that nourishes the bodies, minds, and spirits of the communities we serve- our neighborhood, our retail and wholesale customers, and our employees by:
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We are proud of what we do, and our pride shows in the beautiful bread and sweets we make each day. We source our quality ingredients the same way we buy groceries for our families – using only natural ingredients, with no artificial additives. Our goal is to delight our customers with a wide range of products – some are healthful, and some are indulgent. All of them are treats!
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We are proud to have been part of a movement away from American packaged breads to “real” hand-crafted breads made with slow fermentation and traditional methods. We’ve always been actively involved in the Bread Bakers Guild of America, an organization that raises the knowledge and skill level of American craft bakers. There is a distinct difference between the real thing, and baked goods that are “artisan style,” but not really made by hand. At Amy’s Bread, we are committed to baking wholesome, hand-crafted bread.
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As good citizens of our community, we feel a responsibility to contribute to its health! Every day we donate our extra bread to 2 local food pantries and City Harvest (3000 lbs per month gathered from our locations!). We’ve participated in countless local school fund-raisers, hunger-related charities, and community events.
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Supporting local products has recently become a popular topic. We have always been local and remain that way. We serve the New York City area, and make all of our freshly baked products every day. We don’t parbake and freeze, and we don’t pre-package our items. We believe that the best bread and pastries are made in the Old World way - by hand and enjoyed within hours of being freshly baked.
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We want our customers to have a great experience when calling or visiting Amy’s Bread--an experience that is pleasurable, and leaves them looking forward to doing business with us again.
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Here at Amy’s Bread, we have always strived to build work relationships that are based on trust and respect. We have watched many of our employees develop personally and professionally over the last 30 years, becoming skilled members of our “bakery family”. Our loyal employees have made our success possible.
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We use only “green” cleaning products, and we buy local and organic ingredients, when possible. We always use local dairy products and eggs, and local seasonal fruit. Natural kraft paper is used for our packaging, and our salad containers are made from corn and are compost able. The bakery recycles all paper, metal and plastic --and we compost all of our food waste.
About Amy Scherber
Amy grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from St. Olaf College with degrees in Economics and Psychology. After college she moved to NYC and spent three years in a marketing firm, until she realized her heart was in cooking and baking. She attended the New York Restaurant School, then worked as a cook and pastry cook at Bouley restaurant where she became passionate about bread. She continued her training in France in three bakeries before returning to New York to pursue bread baking. She baked bread and pastries at Mondrian restaurant before starting her own business. She launched Amy’s Bread in 1992 in Hell’s Kitchen with 5 employees. The bakery was an immediate hit. Building its loyal customer base over the years, Amy’s Bread has become a New York institution. Today the staff has grown to 100 (hand-shaping dough requires a large staff!) and the bakery delivers to over 200 wholesale customers daily. Amy’s husband Troy Rohne joined the company full time in 2002, and now runs the business with Amy. Amy’s Bread continues to be recognized as one of the best bread bakeries in the U.S. The bakery has been featured in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, Gourmet, Food & Wine, and Bon Appetit. The bakery is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the summer of 2022!
Scherber has co-authored The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread and her bread cookbook, Amy’s Bread, with Toy Dupree, one of five original Amy's Bread bakers and our executive pastry chef until 2012. Amy is an active member of The Bread Bakers Guild of America.
Amy has received numerous awards in the culinary and business fields. Some of the significant recognitions include Crain’s "40 Under 40" Rising Stars in Business in 1997, New York Woman Business Owner of the Year for 1999 by NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners), Woman of the Year for 2001 by the Professional Women’s Exchange, NY, NOW New York’s Woman of Power and Influence for 2001, The James Beard Foundation nominee for Pastry Chef of the Year for 2001, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Golden Bowl award for Best Baker or Pastry Chef of the Year in 2003. In 2005, Amy was honored as Distinguished Alumni of the Year by Wayzata High School. In May 2006 Amy received an award from the US Chamber of Commerce as one of 60 Blue Ribbon Businesses for 2006, selected from among thousands nominated across the country. Dessert Professional Magazine (November 2010) named Amy one of the 10 Best Bread Bakers in America. The bakery won the Age Smart Award for providing jobs and careers for older workers.
