RYE by Martin Auer: A New York Bakery with a $60 Loaf of Bread

In New York, a new bakery has opened that has already been covered by everyone: the New York Post, Bloomberg, Fox News, and even Euronews. And in the comments, everyone with an opinion about bread is arguing about it. So, as you can imagine, basically everyone.

RYE by Martin Auer is not even really a bread shop. It is a full-fledged bread boutique that sells just one type of rye bread in a space that looks more like a designer furniture showroom.

The bread contains no sugar, seeds, spices, or preservatives. Just organic rye flour from Austria, water, and salt. The owners call time the fourth ingredient: the dough ferments for 24 hours, and after baking, the bread rests on wooden shelves for at least another eight hours. Otherwise, it is difficult to slice. Interestingly, the sourdough starter is more than 50 years old and was brought from Austria. The two-ton oven came from Germany.

But everyone is talking about the price, not the taste. $60 for a loaf (SIXTY DOLLARS!), $30 for half a loaf, or $15 for a quarter. Naturally, there is a line at the entrance. The friendly staff thank you for visiting, apologize for the wait, and offer a free cup of their signature kombucha.

Besides the bread, you can get a $6 butter and onion sandwich (the most affordable option) or one with salmon roe for $14 (the most premium option). There are also sandwiches with Staud’s apricot jam from Vienna (very good, and my favorite), as well as other savory and sweet options. For wine lovers, a glass of natural wine for $14 is a pleasant surprise. The wine is also Austrian and is produced in a village next to the birthplace of the sourdough starter.

And now for the funny part. Right across from the entrance to the bread boutique, a Lidl supermarket advertising truck was parked with a message that read: “$60 for bread? We have it much cheaper: $3.99 for European-quality bread. And for $60, you can buy 122 croissants from us.”