THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503070066
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
The Universal ``Revelation'' gas oven in the back of the French Bakery on Granby Street has turned out hundreds of thousands of loaves of bread since Elias Habib purchased it in 1912, when he opened his business.
The nearby Giant Mixer (that's both the brand name and an apt description, as it weighs in the neighborhood of 3,000 pounds and stands about 4 feet tall) is also a relic of those bygone days, when Elias bought it as state-of-the-art equipment.
Both pieces still work, earning their keep in the bakery that is still operated by Elias' daughter-in-law, Haifa, and her sons George, 41, and Eli, 36. The family moved the operation to the present site, just south of the Granby Street Bridge, during the World War II years. Haifa Habib took over in 1977, after her husband George died. Now her sons run the operation, but she still comes in every morning.
``I had never written a check, and I learned how to operate the business by sitting down and going through the bills,'' she explained, her arms spread wide as if to show the enormity of the task she faced. With five children there was no lack of helpers when the kids were home from college, but Haifa Habib gives a lot of the credit to the loyalty of her customers.
``God love the people of Norfolk,'' she recalls. ``They were very good to me.''
The affection seems to go both ways, as her son George explained.
``We see three generations of customers come in,'' he said. ``And we've done 50th anniversary cakes for people we did the original wedding cake for.''
George Habib credits his family with producing the first submarine sandwich in the area, and the sandwiches are served on butter biscuits (or rolls) baked daily in the old brick oven in the back. A small regular pastrami sandwich is $4.30, and a small roast pork is $4.75.
Medium sandwiches (such as a roast pork for $5.30) are built on a French roll baked to size. The large subs are served on a loaf of freshly baked Italian bread and will serve two people with hearty appetites. A large chicken salad or pastrami is $11.20, for example, and a seafood combination of scallops, shrimp and crabmeat (sauteed in butter and scooped into the loaf) is $18.95. There is a vegetarian sandwich available with provolone cheese, tomatoes, pickles and onions, topped with a special blend of spices ($5.30 for a medium and $11.20 for the large version).
The French Bakery also stocks a variety of imported and domestic beers, which you select yourself from a vintage cola box, and offers soft drinks and - most unusual of all - Turkish coffee.
You can buy the breads and rolls from a case along the wall in back of the pastry counter. As for the pastries, what a selection - Baba au rhum, light and flavorful; French Cigars, a cylinder of pastry filled with chocolate mousse with the ends dipped in Belgian chocolate; a chocolate Chambord torte; coconut macaroons; eclairs and more, including their trademark orange donuts.
``And it is all natural, all made from scratch,'' explained Haifa Habib. ``We go by my father-in-law's recipes, and to use any imitation stuff is out of the question. We bake our own pork and Smithfield hams for sandwiches.''
Special orders are welcome, her son George said, items like Beluga Caviar, Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella cheese, poached salmon and the like. Recently the bakery turned out a special order of French bread for the crew of a visiting French navy submarine.
``This is the time of year we do a lot of Easter Bread,'' George said.
Dining at the French Bakery is a no-frills experience. You order at the counter, select your drink of choice and grab one of 11 tables. It's a one-of-a-kind operation in its third generation, a piece of old Norfolk that has spanned the century. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Haifa Habib, right, and her son George, left, still operate the
French Bakery, which orginally opened in 1912 and moved to its
present Granby Street site during World War II.
Graphic
AT A GLANCE
The French Bakery: 4104 Granby St., 625-4936.
Food: submarine sandwiches on French-baked bread; extensive
pastry selection: beef, soft drinks and more.
Prices: from $4.30 for a small sandwich to $18.95 for a seafood
combination on a loaf of Italian bread.
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 11:30 a.m.
to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
by CNB