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ORAL HISTORY
Jason Gendusa
John Gendusa Bakery
Jason Gendusa co-owns John Gendusa Bakery and is the fourth generation to operate the family-run business in New Orleans. He remembers the stories his father, John Gendusa, told him about how bakeries were once as prominent as corner stores. He can name in one breath the traditional bread bakeries still operating in New Orleans.
John Gendusa Bakery is most famous for their light and crispy po-boy loaf, which Jason’s great-grandfather created for Martin Brothers in the late 1920s. Their po-boys, pistolettes, and muffuletta loaves are still baked with the original formula and are only sold wholesale. But, if you happen to pass by and smell the bread baking, you can knock on the screen door like most of the neighbors do and buy a loaf. Among its many customers, John Gendusa Bakery supplies po-boy bread to Gene’s Poboys and Parran’s Po-boys and Restaurant in the city.
Jason and his father do everything from the baking, to the office work, to repairing equipment and delivery trucks. They also built two low-humidity coolers for overnight proofing of the bread dough, allowing them to work a more reasonable morning shift. When levee broke after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, four blocks from the bakery, Jason and his father cleaned and repaired all the machinery themselves. They even hauled off their own trash. When asked about whether they considered returning, Jason said that after much thought, he realized the bakery was such a big part of the history of New Orleans. So he decided, “why not be a part of the rebuilding?”
Audio production by Thomas Walsh.