Modern Love The Podcast is supported by

Produced by the ILAB at WBUR Boston.

From The New York Times and WBUR Boston, this is Modern Love.

Stories of Love, Loss and Redemption.

I'm your host, Megna Chacrabardi.

For Betsy Verrecky, the perfect man is sweet, smart, sensitive, and can feed her car prediction.

She wrote about someone she thought checked all those boxes in her essay, Boy, What a Fabulous Baker.

It's read by Abby Jacobson, who stars in Broad City, and who you can see now in the drama Six Balloons on Netflix.

The two loaves of bread caught my eye.

Then I noticed the man in the goofy hat holding me.

In his profile picture, he looked like a carpenter or shipbuilder.

Someone who should always wear flannel, a man with broad shoulders and a beard perfect for catching crumbs.

I swiped right.

We matched.

Scanning his Instagram, I realized he made food for a living.

His feed featured croissants the size of a human head, zucchini lasagna, coconut donuts, cauliflower pizza, and bacon and egg pasta.

As it turned out, his bakery was within walking distance from my apartment, so I decided to go check it and him out.

Meeting the baker in person on my own secretive terms seemed safer than showing up for a potentially horrible blind date.

And if there was no spark, we said go home with something yummy for lunch.

So one hot Sunday morning, I went deep into Brooklyn, passing factories and rickety buildings with garages big enough to hold bulldozers.

I kept looking at my map wondering if I was on the right street. Then I saw the sign.

I had expected your typical hipster bakery with exposed filament light bulbs and a $5 cold brew.

...