Addiction: A Photoessay

It's time for another photoessay. It's been a while since the last one. The theme is equally depraved: addiction.

Now, for the soundtrack... I suggest something (anything, really) by Velvet Underground or Babyshambles. Those guys know addiction.

My deep dark secret, my addiction - bread. Any day, any time, any kind. Well, maybe not any kind.

*

This guy right here? He's the dealer. I break down every time, no matter how much I try to resist him. The shop is all light and shiny and pretty... I just can't walk by. The carbohydrate heaven that is Truly Jorg's** holds an unnatural and magnetic power over me.

All the bread above? That's the gateway drug of baked-good addiction -- the pot, if you will, to the heroin that is pastry:

Flourless chocolate cake and pumpkin cheesecake tart.

I stay away from the hard stuff. Once in a while is ok, but I don't need any more bad habits. Bread is addictive enough.

How's this for trippy - the owner and namesake of the shop, Jorg Amsler, takes part in an annual chocolate fashion show in NY where he designs an outfit made of at least 30% chocolate to be walked down the runway. The focus of the shop is not bread - it's pastries. They are gorgeous and indulgent but not so architectural and complex as to be off-putting. The shop also makes wedding cakes to order - you can ask them to make pretty much anything. If you would like your wedding cake to look like a big tractor, they will be more than happy to oblige, and it will be gorgeous... for a tractor.

On a more serious note, I realized recently that I cannot go a day without eating bread. My meals don't feel complete without it. There are few things better in this world than tearing into a fresh loaf of bread, crusty and chewy on the outside, covered with a bit of flour, moist and fragrant on the inside. That has to be one of the top ten most fantastic sensations. The other sensations? Those are topics for other photoessays of depravity.




* In the interest of full disclosure, the last loaf of bread - the spiky one - was actually Iggy's from Whole Foods. It was fantastically good and I couldn't leave it out. The crust to flesh ratio on that loaf was awesome... Crust is the best part, after all.

**Warning: website contains highly graphic pastry material - not for the faint of heart.