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Death of a culinary legend...


samhexum

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Charles Entenmann, who propelled his family’s New York bakery into a national brand, died in Florida last month at the age of 92.

Entenmann, his brothers and mother expanded the Bay Shore business across the region and eventually the country, following the 1951 death of his father William Entenmann, a German immigrant who opened the bakery in Brooklyn in 1898, according to its website.

His family sold its cakes-and-cookies enterprise for $233 million in 1978, which is more than a billion dollars in today’s money, Newsday reported. Entenmann’s still operates under new ownership, but closed their Bay Shore plant in 2014, the article said.

Entenmann, a Korean War veteran, was a supporter and advocate for the Great South Bay YMCA, and funded research to improve water quality and habitats in the bay, which separates his hometown from Fire Island, according to his obituary.

“He never wanted the accolades, the publicity; and when he gave, he gave with all his heart and with complete faith and trust in you,” Anne Brigis, a longtime YMCA executive, told the paper.

“He treated everybody with respect. It didn’t matter if you were a janitor at the bakery or a custodian at the Y or senior leadership.”

In retirement, Entenmann spearheaded energy and medical advances at his research lab and healthcare company, and along with his brothers Robert and William established the Entenmann Family Cardiac Center at Bay Shore’s Southside Hospital.

“He was an extremely generous man,” his son Charles Edward Entenmann said. “He was just a really intelligent guy … He had a fantastic sense of humor and was always playing jokes on people and having fun. He did it right.”

The elder Entenmann, who concentrated on the engineering and technical aspects of the bakery enterprise, didn’t share his family’s sweet tooth, his son reportedly revealed.

“I’m going to tell you something that’s been pretty much a secret, most of my life anyway,” his son told Newsday. “He didn’t eat Entenmann’s cake … He just wasn’t a dessert guy.”

Charles Edward Entenmann died outside Miami on Feb. 24. He had lived in Florida for decades but was buried on Long Island.

Entenmann's cookies and cinnamon swirl buns

Entenmann truck

 

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8 hours ago, LookingAround said:

He might have been a business legend. I wouldn’t consider him a culinary legend. 

 

5 hours ago, MikeBiDude said:

You took the words out of my mouth!

 

1 hour ago, maninsoma said:

Maybe when the brand started out they had better quality.  I think I bought my first Entenmann's product about 40 years ago and it was definitely mediocre at that point -- about the same as Hostess, another brand that obviously dominated in a business sense but that no one would hail for product quality.

 

24 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

Right - typical grocery-store mass-produced baked goods.  I could never understand the romance.

You're all probably the sort of food snobs who'd insist that Chef Boyardee is not one of the all-time great Italian chefs.

Edited by samhexum
just for the hell of it
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1 hour ago, maninsoma said:

Maybe when the brand started out they had better quality.  I think I bought my first Entenmann's product about 40 years ago and it was definitely mediocre at that point -- about the same as Hostess, another brand that obviously dominated in a business sense but that no one would hail for product quality.

Totally agree with you.  If I never eat another Entenmann's Bakery product for the rest of my life, I'm perfectly fine with that.  They were never in the same category as the Awrey's and Sander's baked goods that we enjoyed in Michigan many decades back.

Interesting tidbit:  Entenmann's is currently owned by Bimbo Bakeries.  I get a chuckle out of that name.  Bimbo is a well known bread bakery in Mexico.

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I agree that the products produced by Entenmanns were mediocre and I only bought them several times in the 80s when they came to my attention in the supermarket where I shopped. I had just moved back from Europe where the pastries were so much better in stores so I stopped buying them. And have never given them a thought since until I saw this thread.

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13 hours ago, LookingAround said:

He might have been a business legend. I wouldn’t consider him a culinary legend. 

 

10 hours ago, MikeBiDude said:

You took the words out of my mouth!

Being a "culinary legend" doesn't necessarily mean they were making good food. 

 

6 hours ago, maninsoma said:

Maybe when the brand started out they had better quality.  I think I bought my first Entenmann's product about 40 years ago and it was definitely mediocre at that point -- about the same as Hostess, another brand that obviously dominated in a business sense but that no one would hail for product quality.

4 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

Totally agree with you.  If I never eat another Entenmann's Bakery product for the rest of my life, I'm perfectly fine with that.  They were never in the same category as the Awrey's and Sander's baked goods that we enjoyed in Michigan many decades back.

Entenmann's bought Burny Brothers of Chicago in 1979 and the quality fell right on the floor. Burny had the bakery franchise in many Jewel stores. The sale accelerated Jewel rolling out its own in-store bake shops to all its stores. 

4 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

Interesting tidbit:  Entenmann's is currently owned by Bimbo Bakeries.  I get a chuckle out of that name.  Bimbo is a well known bread bakery in Mexico.

Bimbo's Phoenix bakery is about a mile or so west of me. When the wind blows the right way I can smell the bread baking.

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33 minutes ago, rvwnsd said:

Being a "culinary legend" doesn't necessarily mean they were making good food. 

"Culinary legend," to me, connotes a prominent figure in gourmet food or fine dining, like Julia Child or Joel Robuchon.  I would describe Charles Entenmann as a food industry giant, like Ray Kroc.

That said, I haven't had an Entenmann's cheese danish in forever.  Maybe I'll go out & buy one in his honor.

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15 hours ago, LookingAround said:

He might have been a business legend. I wouldn’t consider him a culinary legend. 

 

11 hours ago, MikeBiDude said:

You took the words out of my mouth!

 

7 hours ago, maninsoma said:

Maybe when the brand started out they had better quality.  I think I bought my first Entenmann's product about 40 years ago and it was definitely mediocre at that point -- about the same as Hostess, another brand that obviously dominated in a business sense but that no one would hail for product quality.

 

7 hours ago, Rudynate said:

Right - typical grocery-store mass-produced baked goods.  I could never understand the romance.

 

6 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

Totally agree with you.  If I never eat another Entenmann's Bakery product for the rest of my life, I'm perfectly fine with that...  Interesting tidbit:  Entenmann's is currently owned by Bimbo Bakeries.  I get a chuckle out of that name.  Bimbo is a well known bread bakery in Mexico.

 

6 hours ago, purplekow said:

The Lure of Entenmann's is in the ready availability and in the 2 for 1 sales.  Not a great cake but adequate mass produced snack.   

 

4 hours ago, Rudynate said:

Maybe we all had mothers and/or grandmothers who baked so we knew what baked desserts were supposed to taste like.

 

3 hours ago, Luv2play said:

I agree that the products produced by Entenmanns were mediocre and I only bought them several times in the 80s when they came to my attention in the supermarket where I shopped. I had just moved back from Europe where the pastries were so much better in stores so I stopped buying them. And have never given them a thought since until I saw this thread.

 

1 hour ago, rvwnsd said:

Being a "culinary legend" doesn't necessarily mean they were making good food.  Entenmann's bought Burny Brothers of Chicago in 1979 and the quality fell right on the floor.

 

1 hour ago, BSR said:

"Culinary legend," to me, connotes a prominent figure in gourmet food or fine dining, like Julia Child or Joel Robuchon.  I would describe Charles Entenmann as a food industry giant, like Ray Kroc.  That said, I haven't had an Entenmann's cheese danish in forever.  Maybe I'll go out & buy one in his honor.

 

43 minutes ago, MikeBiDude said:

Googled “culinary legend” and yeah…more a list I had in mind vs a bakery business mogul that receives flour and corn syrup by the train car load. 

I hope you all realize the most important part of a new topic post is the click-bait headline.  I was going to go with HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR, but that's been done...

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4 hours ago, rvwnsd said:

...

Bimbo's Phoenix bakery is about a mile or so west of me. When the wind blows the right way I can smell the bread baking.

image.png.51bf5ae0942882d08867341a9d60c586.png

Edited by Unicorn
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9 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

They were never in the same category as the Awrey's and Sander's baked goods that we enjoyed in Michigan many decades back.

I loved Sanders growing up in Detroit.  Great hot fudge sundaes at their counter service.  The stuff with the Sander’s label today doesn’t seem as good.

Edited by bashful
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4 minutes ago, bashful said:

I loved Sanders growing up in Detroit.  Great hot fudge sundaes at their counter service.  The stuff with the Sander’s label today doesn’t seem as good.

It probably isn't. I grew up with Heinemann's in Chicago. My aunt worked at one of their grocery store locations, so we always had some in the house. When they resurrected themselves, it wasn't as good. 

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