Photos courtesy of Oy Vey Osteria
Frau also likes video editing and photography,
and Hunt handles posting and
copy, including history about the food in
the descriptions.
Oy Vey Osteria will expand to YouTube,
too. Frau started a cooking channel during
the pandemic with demonstrations
on making Italian recipes. They plan to
transition it into the Oy Vey Osteria kitchen
channel with videos of them baking.
Frau would love the business to be a
hybrid between a traditional bakery —
with a small café one day — and a content
platform.
Hunt and Frau both find the business
rewarding. They love interacting with
people; providing delicious, beautiful
food; and figuring it out together while
connecting with their Jewish and Italian
roots. They’ve found that they’re more
alike than they realized.
“We both grew up in cultures and families
where breaking bread with someone
is so important, to just make something
really good and share it with someone,”
Hunt said.
FEBRUARY 2022 I BOROMAG.COM 15
in restaurants in Spain, France and New
York City. He currently works at an Italian
bakery in Brooklyn. His grandmother was
a baker, which, like Hunt, makes him feel
like he’s connecting back to his roots.
While Oy Vey Osteria is a combination
of Hunt and Frau’s cultures, they’ve used
ingredients that also reflect the diverse
populations in the neighborhood. Selling
at the Queens Pop-up at the Jewish
Center of Jackson Heights inspired them
to make mini babka buns made with
ube, a purple yam from the Philippines,
and another variety with cream cheese.
They were a hit with the crowd.
“We brought something new,” Frau
said of the community response. “There
are not too many Jewish modern bakeries
here in the area … so the people
really love it.” Customers also appreciate
their gluten-free and vegan options.
They’ve also sold at a Sunnyside Shines
market, and recently got accepted to
the Down To Earth Market locations in
Morningside and Greenpoint starting in
March. They’ve been delivering orders
themselves, but soon they’ll include the
option for customers to pick up orders at
the farmers market locations.
To prepare for the upcoming season
of farmers markets, the couple wants to
get new equipment and try new recipes,
like switching the product to sourdough.
They also talked about making new
menu items like Hamantaschen (triangleshaped
cookies with filling) for Purim,
Hunt’s grandmother’s cookies for Passover
and cinnamon rolls.
A lot of customers come from Oy Vey
Osteria’s Instagram account, where they
post reels and professional-level pictures
of their food. That, too, takes teamwork.
Oy Vey Osteria
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