490: Building a Cult Bakery with ALF’s Amadou Ly

Amadou Ly is the baker-owner of ALF Bakery, a destination for delights like mushroom danishes and laminated baguettes in New York City’s Chelsea Market. After 18 years of jobs in restaurants, from dishwasher to pastry chef to chocolatier, he apprenticed under Roger Gural at the iconic Arcade Bakery. Arcade closed, and now he’s making some of the most exciting bread and pastries in the city at ALF. In this episode, we talk about the craftsmanship, technique, and passion that guides his work.

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt talk about their home bread baking journeys. Does one co-host (hint: Matt) aspire to bake more bread in the coming months, and start a bread practice? Does Aliza have a “bread person” past? They also talk about some great recent bread baking books that can help kick-start this journey.  

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MORE FROM AMADOU LY:

• Meet the West African Baker Reshaping French Pastry [Atlas Obscura]
• ​​Inside the Menu at the New Spot From an Alum of the Legendary Arcade Bakery [Eater]
• This Is TASTE 488: There's a Bread Baker Inside All of Us with David Tamarkin [TASTE]

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