Photo by Joe Del Tufo
Old World Breads has become a staple in Lewes, and the community always anticipates the unique seasonal selections of baked goods.
The racks and display cases at Old World Breads are a visual and culinary delight. Here you will find freshly baked bread, pastry and more, including crowd favorite red, white and blue fruit tarts.
Most mornings at Old World Breads in Lewes are a community gathering of sorts. The line trails out the door and onto the paver path that fronts the small bakery. Friends and new acquaintances wait patiently and chat about the weather, the nearby bike trail and what they anticipate ordering once inside.
Owner Keith Irwin has been baking for 30 years. He founded Old World Breads with wife, Trish, about eight years ago thinking he would just supply farmers markets in southern Delaware.
“People kept coming up and knocking on the front door,” Irwin says with a chuckle. “So eventually I put in a register and a case up front.”
During the pandemic, demand grew. Irwin added online ordering and expanded his selection. You’ll now find several kinds of flatbread and hand-tossed pizzas; pastries, like blueberry scones and brown-butter sandwich cookies; fresh breads that can be sliced to order; soft pretzels (popular with the cyclist crowd, he points out); coffee. There’s a slew of grab-and-go items, including local-favorite beach plum jelly from Backyard Jams & Jellies. A cold case also features artisanal cheeses, spreads and olives.
But the seasonal favorite is definitely the fresh fruit tarts (on the cover of Delaware Today’s July 2022 issue). Irwin starts putting them on display as soon as he gets great strawberries. “The tarts are a special and I know as soon as I start making them, they are going to go fast,” Irwin says.
To learn more about Old World Breads, view the selection or order online, visit oldworldbreads.com.
Related: Delaware’s Best Food & Drink in 2022, According to Our Editors