Announcements
Pomp and Circumstance: HBK Incubates Graduates Taste of Ethiopia
Photo of Taste of Ethiopia Founder Hiyaw Gebreyohannes courtesy of John Kernick
Born in Dijibouti, Hiyaw Gebreyohannes moved to Toronto as a child and learned to cook traditional Ethiopian food from his mother, a skilled chef and restaurateur. Wanting to bring the healthful and flavorful food of his childhood to a broader audience, Hiyaw decided to parlay his mother’s recipes into a line of vegetarian, packaged Ethiopian food. In July 2011, Hiyaw launched his business, Taste of Ethiopia and joined HBK Incubates, our culinary incubator program.
Photo of Taste of Ethiopia product courtesy of Ken Goodman
We’ve Got a New Look
I am delighted to introduce Hot Bread Kitchen’s new branding, designed by Abbott Miller of the renowned international design firm Pentagram. We believe that our new branding communicates the essence of our mission and the quality of our unique line of breads.
As part of the rebranding, we have added new text to our logo to describe what we do: the phrase “Authentic Multi-Ethnic Breads” was chosen to underscore the international breads we produce and the backgrounds of those who make them, while “handmade” was selected for the bottom text to reinforce the artisanal nature of our products. At the bottom of this new logo is our original motto: “Preserving Tradition/Rising Expectations,” highlighting our commitment to the cultures from which our breads derive and conveying through the pun on rising bread to convey our goal of changing cultural perception of immigrant communities.
Adding to the unique visual richness of the branding is the patterned background that Pentagram has created. From afar it looks like a woven or batik pattern; however, if you look closely, you’ll notice that each row depicts a different ingredient used in the production of bread, such as corn, almonds, honey, milk, and wheat. Expanding upon Hot Bread Kitchen’s view of bread as a global staple that can communicate certain cultural aspects, Abbott has created a veritable iconographic language that conveys bread’s universal nature independent of the written word. You will also notice that our packages now feature, when applicable, the name of the bread in its native language, which we hope will further reinforce a respect for other cultures and our shared connection to and love for bread.
Pentagram has chosen a color palette that is atypical for an artisanal bread company: eggplant, bright blue, and an accent palette of bold, saturated colors. While I’m sure many of you liked our former branding, Pentagram noted that this palette was not differentiating us in the market as effectively as it could. Moving away from our previous organic palette of kraft and cranberry, they went in an entirely new direction and gave the brown palette of our artisanal breads a whole lot of pop! Read more about our newbranding and see additional photos on Fast Company.
At Hot Bread Kitchen, we sell bread to train immigrant and minority women so that they can get better jobs in food manufacturing and to br-educate NewYorkers about the contribution of immigrant communities. Pentagram’s generous donation of design services will make it possible for us to expand our services and change the lives of more women and their families.
Like a perfectly made challah, our new branding braids together our products, employees, and mission, and we hope you enjoy looking at and reflecting upon it as much as consuming our breads. We extend our deepest thanks to Abbott and the Pentagram team for all their hard work.
Sincerely,
Jessamyn W. Rodriguez
CEO & Founder
Hot Bread Kitchen
Save The Date: Night Market
On November 8th, 2012, Hot Bread Kitchen is hosting a fundraiser at our bakery in the historic La Marqueta. The evening will consist of a walk-around chef tasting from surprise celebrity chefs, custom cocktails, bread demonstrations and products from members of HBK Incubates. To read more about the event and to purchase tickets, see our ticketing page.
All proceeds from the event will go to benefit Hot Bread Kitchen in our mission to increase access to professional opportunities in the culinary industry for foreign-born women and low income entrepreneurs.
Now Open: Hot Bread Almacen
Photo by Ken Goodman
On Monday July 23, 2012, Hot Bread Kitchen opened our new retail storefront, Hot Bread Almacen inside of the historic La Marqueta. Located just a few feet away from our production facility, Hot Bread Almacen will feature our line of international breads in addition to select products from businesses enrolled in HBK Incubates and a daily lunch special. Hot Bread Almacen was made possible by the generous support of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) and New York City Council.
To kick off the launch of the store, we hosted a baguette cutting for key funding partners, press and members of the City Council. UMEZ President, Ken Knuckles emceed the event which featured speakers such as NYCEDC President Seth Pinsky, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, Hot Bread Kitchen CEO Jessamyn Rodriguez and HBK Incubates member My Sweet Brigadeiro.
Read more about Hot Bread Almacen’s store offerings and hours.
Hot Bread Almacen: Request for Proposals
Hot Bread Kitchen is excited to announce that with the help of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone(UMEZ), we will be opening a bakery storefront in the historic La Marqueta. We are seeking a creative designer to help us develop a design concept for the storefront and oversee the build-out of the space.
Hot Bread Kitchen will host an information session & site visit for interested parties tonight: Thursday, February 16th at 7:00pm. Please RSVP for the info session to Robin@HotBreadKitchen.org
Read the RFP Hot Bread Almacen for detailed instructions on how to apply.
Global Bread Box
Just in time for the holidays, Hot Bread Kitchen has just announced our Global Bread Box. Inspired by four international baking traditions, our gift box is filled with the following combination of international sweet and savory breads:
- Moroccan M’smen (4 pieces) – An irresistibly buttery, flaky flatbread made with semolina.
- Grindstone Rye (1 loaf)— Our take on the vollkornbrot or German “People’s Bread,” the Grindstone is a moist, hearty loaf filled with a mix of grains, seeds, and organic rye flour.
- My Mom’s Nutty Granola (10 ounces)— Chock full of toasted oats, raisins, nuts, and lightly sweetened with a touch of honey, it makes a perfectly nutritious topping for yogurt, oatmeal, or even ice cream.
- Contribution to our workforce development and small business incubation programs for minority entrepreneurs. By purchasing the Global Bread Box, you help to support our unique baking training program and culinary incubator in East Harlem.
- A recipe suggestion and a how-to card for caring for your artisanal breads
Price: $70.00 USD
Jessamyn Rodriguez is Ms. March 2nd!
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Hot Bread Kitchen C.E.O. Jessamyn Rodriguez was selected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYC Commission on Women’s Issues to be profiled in a video series entitled “NYC Women: Make it Here, Make it Happen”. Each day of March a different women will be featured in a one-minute video on NYC Life.
La Visita de La Cocina Hoy Ha Sido Cancelado
Como resultado de la nieve, la visita guiada de la cocina hoy, ha sido cancelado. La próxima visita en español estará el 8 de febrero a las 12.
Introducing HBK Incubates First Class of Entrepreneurs
Hot Bread Kitchen’s new small business incubation program, HBK Incubates is excited to announce our first class of entrepreneurs, congratulations to:
- Dianna Delatorre, The Naughty Housewife
- Annie Hunter and Jason Vieira, Household Bakery
- Elvis Hernandez, Daisita Bakery
- Vadewattie Sukhu
- Sandra Hernandez, HerFlan
- Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky , Donna Bell’s Bake Shop
Are you a food entrepreneur? Read more about the HBK Incubates program or request an application. If you’re interested in participating, come visit the kitchen to view the space and equipment and learn more about HBK Incubates on one of our weekly guided kitchen tours.
