Memories of a Babka

As you may or may not know, there was a fire in the brick building at the 575 Broadway on the corner of Prince in Soho. It's the building that housed Interview Magazine, Lure Fishbar, the Prada flagship store and among other places, it was the location of my first fulltime NYC job. The Guggenheim rented what was gallery space from the owner (Peter Brant, husband of model Stephanie Seymour-remember her from the Guns N Roses videos?) before Prada came along, and the second floor housed the Guggenheim Books Department. I think they were still located there, that is until the fire. I loved that space. I thought it was like the loft in "After Hours". My desk was literally plywood on filing cabinet, but I thought the office was so glamorous. Jeff Koons' vacuum cleaners encased in plexiglass were housed right across from the elevator banks.
I can only remember two food memories from the job. The views from my boss' windows looked right over Broadway, so I could easily decide on which hotdog vendor to go to for lunch just by looking down through them. I liked to alternate between the two vendors. They both grilled their dogs, but one was younger and cuter, so I probably went to him more. When I left the job after a year, I remember my boss got two big Chocolate Babkas from Dean and Deluca as a good bye send off. I'd never had babka before but I became a fast fan. I like the traditional cinnamon babkas, but for there's nothing like the D&D chocolate babka. Or so I thought until I went to Russ and Daughters (179 E.Houston) to get some dried fruit and saw their chocolate babka. I'll be honest, I didn't buy any because I had just eaten the coconut cream donut, but I will be eating it this weekend for sure. It looks amazing. Look at all those chocolate layers!
But back to 575 Broadway... I've been noting the changes in the building for the past month and couldn't resist taking a quick picture of the huge condom looking plastic bags flying out of the windows. My pal Jenny, who is a buyer for Prada told me that it's rumored that some pesky American Eagle employee (they rented the store next to Prada) didn't extinguish a cigarette properly. I don't think they're going to have a fire sale, but she said she'll let me know.