(Bloomberg) -- In years past in New York City, one indicator that it was Passover could be found by walking down a stretch of Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, around 84th Street. In advance of the holiday, a line snaked down the block outside of William Greenberg Jr. Desserts, as customers waited for boxes of dense chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons, moist honey cake loaves and, more recently, kosher-for-Passover mini black and white cookies. The lines got so long that owner Carol Becker started installing trucks outside to facilitate the pick up of the desserts.
This year, there will be no line. Like everything else in the world, Greenberg’s operation has been upended by the coronavirus. Technically the bakery could have stayed open during the city’s lockdown—in New York City several have continued offering limited service including bread specialist Orwasher’s and Levain, known for their softball-sized chocolate chip cookies. Breads Bakery has also stayed in operation and is expanding their selections with a special Passover meal, “Seder in the Balagan” (Israeli for “order in the disorder”) on the menu, along with their flourless cakes and chocolate chip cookies.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by William Greenberg Desserts (@wgbergdesserts) on Mar 20, 2020 at 12:17pm PDT
But Becker closed her three bakery locations—besides the landmark Upper East Side store, there’s one in the Plaza Hotel and one at Hudson Yards— on March 15th when Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a shelter in place order. She had planned to keep them shuttered until the pandemic is over.
As a result, the city came perilously close to not having kosher black and white cookies for the holiday. “I was conflicted. I don’t want to put my staff at risk by coming it to bake and serve. I’m not going to make a lot of money from it.” Then, she decided, “it’s Passover. The bakery is a mainstay for so many families. It’s a physical part of the holiday people can have at virtual Seder.”
Becker is making a fraction of the baked goods that she has in years past. In 2019, the bakery sold 1,500 pounds of macaroons and 400 pounds of Passover-friendly mini black and whites. (For the holiday, Becker replaces the flour with a combination of potato starch and matzoh cake meal; compared to the original, the base has a cakier texture but the chocolate and vanilla frostings are the same.) This year, she’ll only make about a quarter the amount of each (the macaroons are $32/lb.; cookies are $28 for 10), as well as honey cakes ($18), and flourless chocolate cake ($32). That’s in part because she’s limiting the hours that people will work out of safety concerns—baking takes place only through Sunday at the South Bronx kitchen. It’s also because demand is much lower. Virtual Seders might be large in scope but are small in actuality and don’t require 5 pounds of macaroons and multiple sponge cakes.
Greenberg started getting Passover orders seconds after announcing it (the site closes for new orders at 6pm on April 3rd, and deliveries will be sent by mail.) Becker says requests have come in from all over the country, from Florida to California to Texas. But the majority of the Greenberg desserts are so far destined for one place: the Hamptons.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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