ALF Bakery
Bakery · Chelsea ·
Artisanal bakery featuring laminated baguettes, croissants, and pastries
Artisanal bakery featuring laminated baguettes, croissants, and pastries
"Short but sweet just about sums up this two-year run inside Chelsea Market, where laminated baguettes, buttery croissants, and babka became crowd-pleasers. Owner-baker Amadou Ly announced the impending shutter with, "All good things must come to an end," while holding out hope for a comeback — "It’s time for a better location, and hopefully, it can generate better food traffic and revenues" — and a possible future wholesale operation, with the final bake set for Christmas Eve on December 24." - Bettina Makalintal
"Known for baguettes (including laminated variations), buttery croissants, and babka inside Chelsea Market, this bakery will close its current location on Christmas Eve, December 24, with its last day at 435 West 15th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues. Owner and baker Amadou Ly announced, “All good things must come to an end,” and tells Eater he plans to relocate the bakery to a better location to improve foot traffic and revenues and eventually offer wholesale; before that, he plans to spend some time in his home city of Madrid. Opened in 2023, the bakery reflects Ly’s background at Tribeca’s famed Arcade Bakery (which closed in 2019)." - Nadia Chaudhury
"Run by an alum of cult favorite Arcade Bakery, Alf has a loyal following of its own thanks to its much-hyped laminated baguettes (imagine the love child of a croissant and a loaf of bread). But this tiny bakery in the basement of Chelsea Market has more to offer, like a mushroom danish, and sandwiches at lunchtime. While you’re there, you should also grab a lemon sugar brioche and half a sourdough miche to quarter and freeze at home." - willa moore, will hartman, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah
"The true star at this underground bakery in Chelsea Market is the laminated baguette, a solid baton of bread encased in a flaky, buttery shell. But the basic croissant is pretty good too, with its glossy, painted bands of dough and jaunty, classic crescent shape. It’s on the chewier end of the spectrum, and also sweeter than average, and while it might not necessarily stand out at a baked goods beauty pageant, it would be a very welcome guest at any breakfast table." - willa moore, bryan kim, sonal shah, will hartman
"This slender example at the Chelsea Market bakery has a crisp, caramelized exterior, and relatively interior. It is more buttery than usual and has an elegant shape and heft. This is a perfect breakfast croissant, but not much of a sandwich croissant, and keeps longer than usual due to its high fat content, via Amadou Ly, formerly of Tribeca’s now-closed fabled Arcade Bakery." - Robert Sietsema