Newlyweds Samantha Hunt and
Luca Frau discovered that their
differences complement each
other well in life — and in the
kitchen.
Hunt is a Jewish teacher and
artist from New York, and Frau is
a trained chef from Italy. Together, they
started Oy Vey Osteria, offering the best
baked goods from both worlds. They
make challah, babka, focaccia, cookies,
pies and more out of their Woodside
apartment.
The name of the bakery represents the
combination of their Jewish and Italian
heritages. Frau came up with the idea to
use the Yiddish exclamation “oy vey.”
“I’ve always liked this expression. It reminded
me of ‘mamma mia,’” Frau said.
He explained that in Italy, an osteria is a
casual place where you get homemade
food at a fair price, which speaks to what
the couple does.
Before they started living together in
what is now their home and studio, Frau
and Hunt met during the beginning of
the pandemic in 2020. Some of their
dates involved taking walks through Astoria
Park and enjoying a delicious fruit
tart Hunt brought Frau from her local
bakery. Hunt and Frau got married in an
intimate ceremony in their apartment in
January 2021.
14 FEBRUARY 2 0 2 2
After working nearly 20-hour shifts at
a restaurant during the pandemic, Frau
wanted to get out of the restaurant grind.
He thought starting his own side business
would help him go out on his own
while freeing time to build his relationship
with Hunt.
Hunt and Frau are both “food obsessed”
and creative. The business “just
kind of happened,” Hunt said. They started
working on a blog together last summer
about their personal backgrounds.
That led to baking challahs and babkas at
home, which they posted pictures of on
Instagram and shared with friends, family
and coworkers — and people asked for
more.
After ramping up their baking business
in the late summer of 2021, they
sold challah, rugelach, and babka
for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New
Year) in September, and then officially
formed an LLC.
The couple said the menu has grown
naturally based on what they like to make
and inspiration from restaurants, travel
and cookbooks, as well as requests from
customers. Menu options are also seasonal
and based on holidays.
Around Thanksgiving, they offered a
menu of pies like brûlée pumpkin and
mascarpone; dark chocolate and pecan;
and tiramisu and halva. For Hanukkah,
they fried up a variety of sufganiyot
(doughnut) flavors like espresso coffee
custard; dark chocolate orange ganache;
and sour cherry jam and coconut.
They’ve also sold rainbow and black-andwhite
cookies.
Newlyweds combine
the best of two worlds
with their Jewish and
Italian bakery
BY DANIELLE BRODY
The duo divides the labor in the kitchen
based on their skills. Frau makes the
dough and Hunt braids, decorates and
stages it.
“All this Jewish food is new to me,” Frau
said. “We’re learning while doing — that’s
also the fun part.”
Hunt doesn’t have a background in
baking, but growing up watching her
Jewish grandmother from Poland cook
everything from scratch had an impression
on her.
Hunt had never braided challah before,
but she learned for Oy Vey Osteria. According
to Frau, she picked it up quickly.
“She’s a very good artist,” Frau said.
“She’s very good with her hands, with the
bread. Her braiding is amazing — one of
the best.”
Frau went to culinary school in Italy,
studied pastry-making and has worked
BAKING
as a Love
Language
ARTS + EFNOTOEDR T+A DINRMINEKNST