October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Special helpers’ feel kneaded at Hill’s Night Kitchen Bakery
by CASSANDRA SLAVEN

Amy Edelman (right), who has owned The Night Kitchen Bakery for six years, is delighted to have “special helper” Crystal Euell working for her. (Photos by Cassandra Slaven)

Warren Bronner used to bike to work from Roxborough to Chestnut Hill with a broom strapped to his back. Though it might seem an odd sight to any passerby, it was part of Bronner’s daily routine. Each morning he tied the broom on his back and took it with him so he could help neighborhood residents sweep the sidewalks along Germantown Avenue on his way to his weekly job at The Night Kitchen Bakery at 7725 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill.

The Night Kitchen Bakery has been a Philadelphia institution for over 20 years and is currently owned and operated by Amy Edelman. Amy has more than 16 years experience as a pastry cook and chef, and she purchased The Night Kitchen Bakery in 2000. When Amy purchased it, she not only inherited its celebrated reputation, but along with it, three special helpers: Warren Bronner, Crystal Euell and Philip Carrington.

Bronner, Euell and Carrington began working at The Night Kitchen Bakery more than a decade ago through the JEVS program, the Jewish Employment and Vocational Service. JEVS is a popular, not-for profit nonsectarian social service agency benefiting communities by enhancing the employability and self-sufficiency of the people it serves through a broad range of education, training, health and rehabilitation programs. JEVS assists individuals in finding work who may be down on their luck or who have physical or mental disabilities but who are able and want to work. Amy’s three special helpers all have some form of mild to moderate mental disability but are able to provide great help around the bakery. They each work one day a week, two to three hours per week. “For the most part they wash dishes and keep the place tidy.” The bakery has had to make no special accommodations for its special workers regarding safety that they would not make for any other employee.

Warren Bronner, one of Amy Edelman’s three “special helpers,’ has worked at The Night Kitchen Bakery for 11 years.

Bronner, who now lives in Center City in a new apartment with his helper, Brendan, no longer rides his bike to work but takes the bus because of the distance, but still diligently keeps the floors sparkling clean at The Night Kitchen Bakery. He has worked there for 11 years, and one reason he will tell you is, “I like yellow cake!” Bronner works on Mondays, but Amy says, “He visits other days. He likes yellow cake and snicker doodles. He is a sweetheart.”

Crystal Euell lives in West Mt. Airy and has worked at the bakery for 12 years. “I’ve worked here 12 years because I started working here in 1994,” says Crystal. Her favorite part of the job is: “I like doing the pots and pans. Years ago I used to do cookies when I first came. Years ago. Three kinds of cookies. Chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter.”

Perhaps Euell has caught Bronner’s sweeping bug. “Sometimes at the end of her day when she is finished washing the dishes, she will sweep around the outside, and then she will sweep all the way down the parking lot,” says Amy of Crystal’s work ethic. “Crystal is here when she says she will be here. If she is going to be late, she reminds us several times.”

Helping to keep the bakery clean and orderly is The Night Kitchen’s third special helper, Philip Carrington. Carrington has also worked for the bakery for approximately 11 years. He lives with a brother in Glenside.

Amy smiles when she talks about “what great workers they are. They do their jobs and always show up for work, and they are so much fun to work with. Anyone in the restaurant business in general can tell you how hard it is to keep staff, and these [special helpers] are just terrific, so dependable and reliable.”

For more information about The Night Kitchen, call 215-248-9235.