Blacker’s Bakeshop

Blacker’s Bakeshop is a Kosher Parve bakery in my hometown Newton, MA. Every item made and sold at Blacker’s is dairy free and nut free. Newton is approximately one third Jewish, and longtime Newton residents Karen and Richard Blacker recognized the city’s need for a traditional Jewish bakery. In 2008 they opened Blacker’s after spending their entire careers in the food industry; Richard grew up working at Blacker’s Bros., a specialty fruit store owned by his family. Then, from 1985 to 2005 Karen and Richard owned a wholesale cookie business, but they realized that they missed interacting with customers on a daily basis. Originally, Blacker’s opened in a small hole in the wall shop on Commonwealth Avenue, a major road connecting Newton and other suburbs with the city of Boston; however, a few years ago they moved a few storefronts down the road to a much larger location.

Blacker’s initially catered solely to the Jewish population in Newton, as they bought out the bakery Tuler’s, a Kosher Parve and nut free bakery that had been in the community for a long time. Thursdays and Fridays are the bakery’s busiest days, as many Jewish community centers, synagogues, and families buy challah and other treats for Shabbat, the day of rest that many Jews observe from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Once the Jewish community realized that Blacker’s has arguably the best challah in Newton and the Boston area, the bakery quickly gained popularity through word of mouth. Additionally, the bakery serves a niche group of dairy free and/or nut free customers, and these smaller communities have been very loyal to Blacker’s.

Blacker’s Bakeshop is a local shop that is committed to serving the Newton community at large. The owners, Karen and Richard, are charismatic and warm, and frequently give out sugar cookies to the young children who come into their shop. Their chocolate chip cookie pie is my dessert of choice when I go home, and I always look forward to visiting with the owners.

–Charlotte Robbins