The first time I went to Faedo Family Bakery (formerly Mauricio Faedo’s Bakery) was sometime in the early 1990’s while attending USF. I lived in Seminole Heights at the time, a few blocks away from the bakery, and fresh Cuban bread became a regular staple in my apartment. A single loaf was huge, inexpensive, and so darn delicious warmed and with a healthy spread of butter or pressed for toast in the morning. (Also, if I am being completely honest, fresh Cuban bread also made for a fantastic 2am snack after a late night of mulling about Ybor City.) I loved watching the bread makers work at supersonic speed while laughing and listening to music. I truly admire their craft and love of tradition and was so happy to revisit the bakery and capture what made me fall in the love with this place many years ago. Faedo’s is famous for a lot of reasons (the tradition of the palm fronds, for one), but I always remember their neon sign in the window which illuminated “HOT BREAD NOW” when they had just removed fresh loaves of Cuban bread from the ovens. I was thrilled to see the sign is still in the window.