This world-famous baker from Israel has opened a kosher bakery in South Florida

Walk through the front doors of Bakey, the new kosher bakery in Hallandale Beach, and you understand one thing almost immediately: The king of babka has arrived.

Note the fresh loaves and pastries at the counter, a bounty that resonates with the craving for comfort food. Inhale, and the aroma of fresh baked goods fills you with anticipation and an uneasy panic. What should you order to eat here? What should you bring home? How many loaves of bread can you reasonably expect to get through in a week?

And if you’re listening to the customers in front of you — and judging from the lines there on opening day, there will be customers in front of you — you will hear the words “chocolate babka.” Heed them. Because you don’t want to miss out on the best baked goods in the business.

The creation of internationally known chef and baker Uri Scheft, Bakey arrives with a big reputation and decades of culinary experience behind it. Scheft, who grew up in Israel and Denmark and honed his craft across Europe, is best known as the founder of Lehamin Bakery in Tel Aviv and for co-founding Breads Bakery in New York. He then went on to open five Bakey locations in Boston, with two more on the way.

He’s also known for his unique babka — shockingly moist and chocolatey with a surprising depth of flavor — and also sourdough bread, challah, cakes, goat cheese croissants, burekas, muesli rolls, savory cheese sticks with Gouda and rugelach, all of which will be sold at the Hallandale Beach Bakey.

The restaurant, in the former space of Kosher Bagel Cove on Hallandale Beach Boulevard, seats about 50 indoors and 70 in the sprawling covered outdoor patio. There are also grab-and-go options available as well as a small menu of sandwiches and salads.

Ask Scheft what his favorite baked good is, he laughs and says, “I love all my children equally.” But the chocolate babka is by far Bakey’s most popular item, with the almond babka not far behind.

Charlie LoGrasso, head production manager of Bakey in Boston, said the chocolate babka’s popularity has a downside.

“We do run out of babka,” he admits. “It’s so popular. But we just keep making more. The ovens are always on, so there’s always more babka to come.”

LoGrasso, who’s in town for a couple of weeks to help get the South Florida Bakey up and running, said there’s a reason for the obsession: Bakey’s babka has a completely different texture than most babkas.

“Babka has the stigma of being dry,” he says. “This is a whole different world.”

The secret? Scheft imports hazelnut chocolate spread from Israel that isn’t available in the U.S., then adds a dark chocolate inside.

“We’re looking for the nuttiness of the hazelnut itself, and we’re looking for the sweetness of the chocolate,” LoGrasso explains. “We use the dark chocolate to give it a little bitter taste, and you get an explosion of flavor.”

Bread is also a big draw at Bakey, particularly the challah and the sourdough. Scheft uses sourdough in most of the bread, including the focaccia, a trick he learned in Rome.

The sourdough “gives it another layer of taste,” he explains. “I really like the sour smell of it. First thing I do when I cut the bread is smell it, even before I look at it. Then I taste it. It’s great because it’s more healthy for you and has a longer shelf life, and when it starts to get stale it always has a second life as toast.”

There have been a few challenges with the kitchen, namely using an oven designed for making bagels to bake bread. But Scheft and his team are mastering the subtle differences and plan to offer many of the same loaves available in Boston, though the bakeries will have a few different offerings.

“We don’t have the same coffee program in Boston,” Scheft says. “But if it works here, we might circle back there.”

The Hallandale Beach Bakey, which will also offer catering, a special events menu and seasonal food and drink for the Jewish holidays, is the first of three planned South Florida bakeries; locations in Aventura and Fort Lauderdale are coming soon.

Bakey

Where: 668 West Hallandale Beach Blvd., Hallandale

Hours: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

More information: bakeybabka.com or @BakeyBabka