For five years I’ve been to and from Ottawa dozens of times, and I was always on the lookout for a great little bakery. This was especially the case, since the adorable one at the end of my street had remarkable fresh bread, but it was at least $4.00 a loaf. Now on a student budget, like mine, that couldn’t happen on a regular basis. I stumbled across this beautiful documentary a few weekends ago, on OMNI, and I’m embarrassed to say that until then, I had never taken notice of the Rideau Bakery, and even still, I can’t picture in my mind where it is located in Ottawa. I’m planning a trip there in a week or two, so I’ll have to stop by.
Synopsis from OMNI TV website:
One of the Last opens on a hectic Friday morning inside Ottawa’s Rideau Bakery with images of steaming loaves of rye bread being lifted in to huge hot ovens and the wholesome sound of cornmeal scraping against wooden pallets. It is the busiest day at the bakery. All the orders have to be delivered to supermarkets, restaurants and synagogues before the sun sets and the Sabbath begins.
Started in 1930 by immigrant brothers Abie and Dovid Kardish, the Rideau Bakery is a much loved institution in the city and successive generations of faithful customers have depended on the bakery for rye bread, challah, pumpernickel and sweet treats. Unique in its longevity, the success of this family business lies in the commitment that four generations of the Kardish family have to tradition, to each other and to producing delicious baked goods.
With its flour dusted machinery and row upon row of metal bread trays the bakery isn’t pretty, but the bread sure is and according to customers the Kardish’s make the tastiest rye bread ever. Their secret? A sourdough base that some say has been going for decades. And each loaf is crafted by hand to perfection by dedicated staff.
At the helm of the business today are the grandsons of Abie and Dovid, Louis Kardish and his brother David. Their sister Debbie Baylin also helps out and as the family historian we learn from Debbie that the true origins of the bakery and its recipes lie in the story of their great-grandmother, Rifka Kardish.
Rifka was from Kamianets-Podilskyi a medium-sized city in southern Ukraine. There in the early 1900s she raised twelve children and since her husband Moishe was a English and Hebrew teacher, the economic survival of the family was up to her. Rifka first started baking bread in her kitchen and over time built a thriving bakery business. On a small cobbled street in Kamianets lined with old stone buildings we see the remains of her shop, still fondly remembered by an elderly citizen.
Rifka involved her kids in the bakery and passed on her skills. Even her last surviving child, Pinhey, a gentle old man who lives in Ottawa, remembers working with his mother at age four. But life was becoming increasingly difficult for Jews in Eastern Europe. With pogroms against Jews and the iron fist of Russian rule she and some of her children made the heart-wrenching decision to leave the Ukraine for a new home in Canada.
Rifka’s remarkable story is a surprising backdrop to the present day bakery and gives us insights into this family and their devotion to the tradition of baking. Her strength and generosity of spirit echo through the generations.
As the story of the Rideau Bakery unfolds we meet many of the characters who devoted their lives to the bakery.
Issie, Louis and David’s father, went in to the business after serving in WWII to help his ailing father Dovid.
Issie’s brother, Uncle Moe, a man in his 80’s who never wanted to be in the bakery business, was forced into working in the bakery every evening while still in school. Although he had a heart attack and retired more than ten years ago, he still works there in the early mornings to help out and pass the time of day.
Ivan and Max, hired as teenagers by the Kardish’s, spent their entire working lives in the bakery. Even after he retired Ivan can still be found helping bake bread on busy Friday mornings.
And Auntie Annie, Moe’s sister, had a knack for talking to customers at the same time as she punched the cash. She fondly remembers living above the first bakery located on Rideau Street in the early 1930’s.
The community’s affection for the bakery is evident in the many customers who sing its praises and have frequented its lunch counter for many years. The bakery plays an important role in serving Ottawa’s kosher observant community and at the same time it has become the pre-eminent bakery in the city.
But uncertainty hangs over all of this history and success. What will happen to the Rideau Bakery in the future? Will it continue to stay in the family? Is it possible that a fifth generation will run the bakery? As their parents before them, David and Louis are torn between wanting the bakery tradition to continue and hoping their kids will follow their own dreams and careers. Debbie’s son Joel and his cousin Tyler who help out in the bakery admit that the bakery business is hard and aren’t sure that they see themselves taking over.
As the day ends the Kardish’s gather for their weekly Friday night Shabbat supper. Debbie reads a letter from their father Issie written while he served in WWII. He imagines himself being there at the table with the rest of the family. As family members listen attentively to Issie’s words of longing to be part of the Friday night supper we can’t help but think that somehow having come this far, that the tradition of the bakery just may continue.
One of the Last is produced by Jane Gurr and Ed Kucerak, and directed by Ed Kucerak.
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