From the day he opened his first bakery, Marvelous Market in 1990, Mark Furstenberg says no one has ever tried to rob his business. That changed Tuesday when two men, one armed with a gun, entered Bread Furst in Van Ness and knocked an employee briefly unconscious after he couldn't open a safe.
The incident left the 29-year-old bruised and cut after one assailant beat the employee on the head with a gun. The employee went to the hospital and received several stitches. Furstenberg said the worker was doing better physically, although the robbery has apparently shaken him.
"He's going to recover," Furstenberg as he catered to a steady stream of customers stocking up before the blizzard. "I'm worried about him."
According to the police report, the robbers entered the bakery on Connecticut Avenue NW through a back alley door and went to the upstairs office, where a safe is located. The man with the gun told an employee, “Ya’all know who the f--- this is, give me the money,” the report says.
That detail — the quote, "Ya'all know who the f--- this is" — led some to believe that Bread Furst employees must have known the robbers. But Furstenberg said, no, they don't know them.
Furstenberg was in California for a conference when the incident occurred, but he flew back early to deal with the aftermath. The owner spoke to his head baker who was in the office and witnessed the crime. The head baker told Furstenberg that it wasn't clear whether the robber said, "Ya'all know who the f--- this is" or "Ya'all know what the f--- this is."
"We all do think there was insider knowledge because the robbers knew there was a safe here and knew where it was," Furstenberg added.
The robbers left Bread Furst with nothing, the owner said. "Not even a loaf of bread."
As a result of the attempted robbery, Furstenberg has replaced the office door with something sturdier and now keeps it locked. He's even going to install cameras, which are basic equipment in many restaurants around Washington. But not at Bread Furst. Until now.
"I've been doing this for more than a quarter of a century, and no one has robbed me before," said Furstenberg who operated his first Marvelous Market in the Chevy Chase neighborhood and then ran his Breadline bakery near the White House.
Speaking of operating, Furstenberg said Bread Furst plans to open Saturday no matter what mother nature delivers overnight. “I think it’s something we should try to do” for the neighborhood, he said.
Because much of the staff travels by Metro, which is closed through at least Sunday, some employees are being put up for the night in the hotel next to the bakery. Furstenberg himself plans to stay at the house of a neighbor near Bread Furst. “I’ll come in early and make bread,” the baker said, “which will be fun for me.”
Peter Hermann contributed to this report.