Last May, Leske's, the last Scandinavian bake shop in the one-time Norse stronghold of Bay Ridge, closed. And so the Brooklyn neighborhood lost one of oldest businesses, and one of the last vestiges of Swedish Brooklyn.
Now, it seems, Leske's is getting a new lease on life. I was in the area the other day and saw some workers hanging outside the bakery. Investigating, I found a couple articles and notices taped to the windows saying that the shop was due to reopen. Signs said Leske's would have new management, but the same bakers it had before. It will reopen in May.
I'm glad it's reopening, but the fact that it will have the same bakers is a matter of some concern. When I first posted something about Leske's, a received a few comments from old timers saying how the quality of the baking had gone done in recent years. Yesterday, I even received a message from a descendent of the founder: "Being the granddaughter of the founder of Leske's Bakery, nothing is like it use to be back then. My mother constantly raves of the donuts and black and whites, but everytime we've gone back, they were never like they use to be." Perhaps the previous management wasn't letting the bakers bake the way they wanted to. We shall see.
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