“Fraites! Open the door, man!” Dicky Smith yelled while banging on a window at Central Bakery at 6:20 a.m. on Monday.
“Man, you could do better than that: You losing money,” Mr. Smith joked with Mr. Fraites.
By then, bakers had already been at work for two hours at the long-time business, which used to be known as Josh’s Bakery.
Getting ready
Their preparations had begun in earnest shortly after 4:24 a.m., when Ramon Destine opened the doors.
Cocks crowed loudly as the baking assistant turned on the lights and placed his bag on a chair.
“Nobody likes to be up this early, but it is work, so I do it,” Mr. Destine said as he washed his hands.
Then he turned on two large, eight-decked ovens in which he would place trays and trays of pre-prepared patties filled with beef, tuna and saltfish. More than 100 loaves of wheat and white bread would also be placed in the ovens over the course of the morning.
All of the items had been prepared the previous day — using five 50-pound bags of flour and 15 four-pound bags of sugar — and placed in large refrigerators to facilitate the bakers’ morning routine.
Shortly after 4:45 a.m., the oven was full, and Mr. Destine began cleaning kitchen surfaces and counters.
That has been the 56-year-old Dominican Republic native’s daily routine for about two years.
The former equipment-maintenance man doesn’t mind the early start: It earns him enough to take care of the youngestof his 11 children, a 17-year-old.
“I had plenty women,” he said before laughing and giving out advice on staying young. “Sleep well, eat well, no smoking, and don’t drink a lot.”
‘Condition your mind’
Shortly after 5 a.m., there was a knock on the door. It was Simone King, another baking assistant.
“Oh, you have a visitor,” Ms. King said while punching a time clock.
After washing her hands and donning her apron, she began measuring flour, butter and other ingredients to make cinnamon rolls.
“Six pounds of flour make 24 cinnamon buns,” she said as she weighed flour on a scale.
Ms. King, who used to work as a home economics teacher in her native Guyana, began her stint at the bakery seven years ago.
“To work here, you have to condition your mind to do it,” she said before turning on a large mixer in which she put all the ingredients. “Sometimes it can be really frustrating.”
But the hard work pays off.
“I love to see when the items are sold out but customers demand more,” Ms. King said. “Sometimes it could be frustrating just as much as it gives you joy.”
At 5:14 a.m., there was another bang on the door: Fiona Rose was reporting for work.
Her jovial presence lit up the bakery as she arrived, repeating the same routine as her co-workers before heading to the mixer to make bread batter.
The mother of two has worked at the business for five years. Leaving her children to report to work so early is difficult, she said, but her spouse helps out.
“My husband cleans the house, gets the children ready for school,” she added. “All I do is cook, and he does everything else. I’m a blessed and lucky woman.”
The owner
By 6:15 a.m., more than 60 patties lined the shelves in the front of the bakery — just in time for the arrival of Mr. Fraites, the bakery owner, who greeted the staff and promptly got to work.
“When I get here, I open the windows, open the doors and get the bags ready for the customers,” he said.
While explaining his routine, he was cut short by patrons, who couldn’t wait to have fresh bread. As is often the case, the first to be served was Mr. Smith, who typically shows up at 6 a.m. if not earlier.
“I always have to wait,” he said. “I know it is a lot of work and it is tiring, but someone has to make the bread.”
At 6:20 a.m. the first sale was made to Mr. Smith, who bought 15 white flours rolls and 15 whole wheat rolls.
More customers followed, and 10 minutes later Mr. Fraites was already calling for more bread.
“Ramon: white!” he shouted — a call that would be echoed repeatedly throughout the day as he summoned Mr. Destine to bring more items to the front of the shop.
Customers
At any given time, there were at least five customers waiting to make purchases. Most of them were patient with Mr. Fraites as he swiftly dealt with one order after another.
“I’ve been coming here since it was the original Josh’s Bakery,” said Perry Penn, who showed up at around 7 a.m. “I’m talking about when I was a kid, not quite 60 years ago.”
Back then, the business was owned by Premier Dr. Orlando Smith’s father, Joshua Smith.
“Dr. Smith’s mother and father were sweethearts, and these folks running it now are a lot younger than his parents, but you get the same vibes,” Mr. Smith said while standing at the door. “The quality and the makeup is a little different, but the taste and satisfaction is still there.”
Malicah Van Triest, another dedicated patron, keeps returning for the cheese rolls.
“I’ve come here almost every day since high school 15 years ago,” said the mother of two. “It’s flaky and filled with cheese. Some places you go, there’s hardly any cheese in the rolls.”
At 9 a.m. most of the cheese rolls were finished and Ms. Rose had to prepare some more.
“You ain’t see nothing yet,” she said as she rolled out the dough. “Very soon, these too will be done.”
Suddenly, without looking up from the dough, she shouted, “Yes, love! I’m right here!”
She was addressing a customer at the front whose presence she seemed to note with a sort of sixth sense.
“I used to be in front, so I know them by serving them,” Ms. Rose said. “I don’t even have to see them: I know them by voice.”
In this case, the customer was Patrice Parillon, a taxi driver who is such a dedicated customer the bakery staff have given her the nickname “Buy Bread.”
Throughout the day, Ms. Rose had similar conversations with other patrons as she worked. The frantic pace, she said, suits her just fine.
“If I was to be young again, I’ll still choose to bake,” she added. “Boy, I love it. I take pride in it. To be able to take things from a bag and make something beautiful is nice.”
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