French bakery L’imprimerie (1524 Myrtle Ave.) has closed after a health inspection (far from the worst in the area). Issues from its latest inspection included food temperature concerns and “evidence of mice.”
A sign appended to the door now reads, “Closed until further notice.”
Current ownership at L’imprimerie did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether this closure is permanent or just temporary, but a nostalgic Instagram post by the French spot’s founder and former owner Gus Reckel (who goes by @greatbushwickbakeoff on Instagram) appears to indicate the place’s permanent departure.
On the closure, Reckel told me that “With all the information I have, some privileged, I don’t see how they could reopen.”
Reckel, a native of France (full of noted Bushwick fans), founded L’imprimerie in 2015. By 2020, its pricey sourdoughs1 earned the place a name among “the 100 Best Bakeries in America,” per Food & Wine.
Seeking something more than the 24/7 lifestyle, per an interview with They Got Acquired, Reckel said he sold L’imprimerie in 2024, in a seven-figure deal that included financing arrangements from the buyer.
That buyer in question was David Mena, who also owns Dark & Pure, a separate cacao brand. Mena maintains a blog with the same name; in one post, titled “The Other 10%,” Mena writes that “The bakery was never the whole plan. The bakery is the [T]rojan horse. The whole plan is cacao.”
Mena, as one is want to do these days, is posting through the problems. He’s published three blog posts since the last health inspection on July 1st. The most recent was “Billionaire Challenge,” published July 8th, where he writes, “It’s one thing to think of yourself as an entrepreneur. It’s another to say it to someone who knows what it takes to be a good one.”
L’imprimerie appears not to have lasted even two years under Mena’s ownership. While the bakery near Myrtle-Wyckoff may be gone, other establishments like Bushwick Bakery (127 Central Ave.) and Bonjour Brooklyn (1357 Broadway) remain to maintain Bushwick’s essential French infrastructure.
- $14 on Grubhub, though it was always very good (source: me). ↩︎
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