Kabul Bakery

Kabul Bakery sits on the corner of a busy street, across from the cemetery and next to an exotic club. It was once called Afghan Bakery.

Its owner is Najib. He left Kabul when he was 22 to make a better life for himself. His plan was to go to college here. But when he arrived, he realized he couldn't afford that. He found a job at Sterling Optical. He earned $2.50 an hour, minimum wage back in 1972.

One day a friend suggested to Najib that he bake Afghan bread. His friend owned a restaurant and could use fresh bread. His friend even gave Najib the recipe.

Najib started in the Bronx and then moved to Blissville in 1989. Back then, a family of Bolivians baked for him, coming in each morning at 5:00 and finishing around 10:00.

They worked hard. Eventually they saved enough money to move and buy a house -- in Wisconsin. Najib hears from them each Christmas.


Now Najib has just three employees, a woman from Mexico, a woman from Ecuador and the man who has been with him since the beginning, Mohammad from Karachi.


He used to make his bread the traditional way, with black sesame seeds on top. But too many customers didn't know what they were. So he stopped and saved himself the money.

His Afghan customers are mainly Pashtun. All they eat is bread, says Najib.


Najib is Farsi. He eats more rice than bread.

Americans don't eat much rice or bread -- they are too worried about their weight. For them he bakes a smaller loaf.

But after September 11th, his American customers cancelled their orders -- Zabar's, Bloomingdales, Market Place and Ballucchi's.

Only Fairway continued with him.


That was a difficult time for Najib. People called him names in the street, and some even spat at him. They broke the window to his bakery. One night someone came by with a shotgun and shot holes into the door next to the bakery. Luckily none of the workers were there.


The police sat in their car up on the hill next to the cemetery watching him. They told him to paint out Afghan.

It was so stressful for Najib that he couldn't go to work any more. He found a partner.

Then one day, the police told him they couldn't watch over him any more. He was on his own.

And so far, he's been alright.