Audio By Carbonatix
Zak the Baker and O, Miami are once again proving that carbs and creativity go hand in hand. Throughout October, anyone who drops a handwritten haiku about Miami food can trade it for a fresh loaf of bread at the Wynwood bakery.
The project, dubbed Poems for Bread, runs the entire month. All poems must be written in person at Zak the Baker, on special O, Miami cards and handed in during operating hours, Sunday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a few exceptions: the bakery will be closed on October 7, 8, 14, and 15). Each person can participate once per day, and while most loaves are available, braided challah is off-limits.
Zak the Baker photo
Write a Haiku, Get a Loaf
On November 14, O, Miami and Zak the Baker will announce two winners. One poet will score the ultimate prize: free bread for a year. The runner-up gets a native fruit tree, keeping with O, Miami’s tradition of pairing poetry with the everyday life of South Florida.
The idea isn’t new. This marks the third year that O, Miami and the bakery have teamed up to encourage locals to consider the way food shapes identity here. “What grows in our soil? Who picks the avocados? Who cooks the collards?” the nonprofit asks in its announcement. The group has long argued that South Florida’s mix of cuisines deserves recognition as a regional food culture.
Zak the Baker photo
Why Zak the Baker?
If there’s one place where a bread-for-poetry trade makes sense, it’s Zak the Baker. Since opening in 2012, founder Zak Stern has turned his Wynwood shop into both a kosher café and a community hub. Known for sourdough, Jewish rye, and daily challah, the bakery helped kickstart Miami’s artisan bread scene. Stern’s loaves now appear at restaurants, grocery stores, and tables across the city.
It isn’t just the bread that draws crowds. Regulars swear by the tuna melt with sharp cheddar and cranberries, the mushroom toast piled high with ricotta and conserva, and the cinnamon rolls that seem to sell out the moment they arrive. French toast layered with Florida pecan butter and blueberry coulis has its own cult following.
P.S. – If a loaf-for-verse trade isn’t enough, the nonprofit is also accepting proposals for its 15th annual Poetry Festival, planned for next April.
Zak the Baker. 295 NW 26th St., Miami; zakthebaker.com.
