Raise a slice of almond cake or an onion roll; another Carroll Gardens institution has turned off the oven. That’s according to a handwritten note from James Caputo, the fifth-generation owner of Caputo Bake Shop, which closed this week after 124 years of baking soda and lard breads, assorted Italian and Jewish delicacies, a slate of classic pastries and cookies, and a cheat code of a cheesecake on Court Street.
“It is with immense sadness that I am writing to tell you that the flame in our oven has been lit for the last time, and Caputo Bakery has come to the end of its 124-year life,” Caputo wrote in a letter posted to the door of the bakery earlier this week, thanking his staff and the neighborhood for the decades of support. “For five generations, my family has taken pride in serving this community, and it is with a heavy heart that I have made this difficult decision. We are deeply grateful for the trust you placed in us, the stories you shared, and the generations who have walked through our doors.”
It’s a sudden closure for a neighborhood that’s seen its share over the last few years. Not far from Caputo’s, Ferdinando’s Focacceria, an Italian bakery of comparable age when it closed last year, is now home to Bar Ferdinando’s, the latest venture of local restaurateur (and handpicked heir to the space), Sal Lamboglia. Mazzola, another Carroll Gardens bakery hovering around the century mark, would have faced a similar fate had its owner not required their successor to keep the business alive with the sale of the building. Caputo also owns the building housing his family’s bakery, but it’s unclear whether he’ll take a note from Mazzola on this one.
You can read Caputo’s note below, courtesy of a tweet from former City Councilman Justin Brennan.
Caputo’s Bakery on Court Street, a.k.a. “the bread store,” has unexpectedly closed after 124 YEARS! They were a fifth-generation, family-run bakery for all that time. We’re all gonna need some time (and a seeded twist) to mourn this one. pic.twitter.com/zhXO8gFkmB
— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) April 28, 2026
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