Bakeri Brings Freshly Baked Bread and a Warm Vintage Cafe to Williamsburg

With plenty of cafes and bakeries throughout the city, it remains a huge challenge to find really good bread -- the kind with the perfect crust and texture. Nina Brondmo, a Norwegian transplant who grew up baking, opened <a href="http://www.bakeribrooklyn.com/">Bakeri</a> in 2009 to bring more top-notch bread to the Big Apple. Drawing on her upbringing in Norway, where baking to combat the cold is common place, Brondmo was driven by a simple desire: "I wanted the neighborhood to have good bread." Aside from the selection of delectable in-house baked goods, the space itself is filled with upcycled furniture that make the cozy niche cafe feel like home.

Upon entering Bakeri, customers are welcomed by staff members outfitted in blue jumpsuits and a large case filled with freshly made breads, quiches, scones and cookies.

Besides the beautiful arrangement of baked delights, the wood and glass case that holds them has a story. It came from a neighboring lingerie store that was going out of business and now, rather than panties, it offers something equally enticing.

The entire space is outfitted with an array of items, each with a unique past that together tell the story of the making of Bakeri.

The big yellow lights that illuminate the front tables and the kitchen space were from a train station in Argentina.

The vintage, blue lights over the glass case were found in Pennsylvania and Brondmo has preserved the original tin ceiling.

A combination of antique and found items makes up the eclectic mix of furniture that gives Bakeri its at-home feel.

Another found piece of furniture adds to the colorful ambiance.

A collection of wooden broom handles have found a second life as part of the lower section that supports the counter. You can see them if you look carefully in the reflection of the mirror in the upper left corner.

Old glass bottles are used for seltzer water.

An old tin can serves as a straw holder.

A mural adorns the wall which was inspired by one Brondo first discovered in a book, the original of which is located in a bakery in Paris which she has since visited.

Bread is baked daily on site and day-old bread is never sold to customers. It sometimes finds a second life in dishes such as the beet, leek, butternut squash and feta bread pudding.

A fresh loaf of focaccia can be bought by the slice or ordered with one of Bakeri's delicious, freshly made sandwiches.

Everything is made on premise in a "small batch baking" style and daily production begins promptly at 4am. Brondmo can be see above flipping a freshly made Spanish tortilla.

Imaginative reuses of day-old bread such as the beet, leek, butternut squash and feta bread pudding demonstrates the innovative ways Brondo and her staff have found to reduce food waste.

Select items, such as the smoked salmon sandwich on brioche with a dill and caper yogurt sauce cast light on Brondmo's Norwegian heritage.

A special sweet delight called Skolebrod is also reflective of her Norwegian influence.

Be sure to explore the whole venue as Brondo has made intelligent use of every spare corner.

A small, unobvious nook in the back houses one table creating a very intimate, fairytale-like environment from which to secretly indulge in the many handcrafted delights on offer.

Above, owner Nina Brondmo stands in her distinct uniform outside Bakeri.