from the PUBLISHERS
Pining for
Pretzels
photos by ANDREW ANDREOZZI photography
crav·ing | ˈkrāviNG | noun a powerful desire for something
Growing up in neighborhoods where food is famous, it’s our job to point you in the right direction when it comes to authentic Philly traditions. Take the soft pretzel, for instance. We grew up on them. They were our mid-morning snack in school. Every corner grocer stacked them on their counters for first-come customers. We ate pretzels at the ball fields, block parties, festivals and walk-a-thons. Everyone knows they pair perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or a lemon water ice on a hot August night. And as soon as the spring breeze blows happy memories through your window screens, the soft pretzel cravings begin. We flash back to that familiar chant that woke us from a deep Saturday morning sleep when we were kids. Just in time to watch cartoons on the console TV. Furr-resh pur-ret-zels! We were down the stairs and out the front door in a flash with our quarter for 5! It started to smell like spring, last week, so we decided to drop in on our friend Erika at Center City Soft Pretzel Co. She was busy filling orders and packaging pickups, but we didn’t mind waiting. We knew the next golden batch to roll out of that brick oven was ours. Perfectly salted. Crust in all the right places. And that soft, flaky dough just beneath the surface. Flour. Yeast. Water. Nut-free. Dairy-free. Kosher. This, dear friends, is the pretzel of our youth. And it’s been rolling out of this same oven since 1981 when Erika’s father Tony Tonelli opened the bakery. When he retired more than a dozen years ago, Erika Tonelli-Bonnett stepped up to the gate. But get there early. She starts around the crack of dawn. Overseeing the operations. Filling orders. Waiting on walk-in customers. And making sure that one of Philly’s original soft pretzel bakeries keeps feeding this fabulous favorite to everyone who knows better.
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| ROWHOME MAGAZINE | April / May / June 2022
One family One location One damn good pretzel It’s that simple. You’re welcome!
Dorette & Dawn River to River. One Neighborhood.
Center City Soft Pretzel Co. 816 Washington Ave. Philadelphia / PA 19147 215.463.5664 M-F: 6-11 am centercitypretzel.com
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