Milan, the Spadini Bakery of Corso Lodi closes after 43 years: Elena and Giuseppe were a point of reference for the neighborhood

TO Milan, in progress Lodi 36, Bread was not only bread, but a daily gesture of care, memory and resistance. Inside, every morning before dawn, Elena and Giuseppe Spadini They turned on the oven and with it a small light in the neighborhood. For 43 years They did much more than to churn out bread: they called hundreds of customers by name, remembered tastes, anniversaries, pains and small joys. On May 22, 2025 the bakery closed definitively. And around, more than the sound of a shutters that falls, you feel the heavy silence of the things that really end. « Remember the scent of bread, » they write in their farewell message. “Never throw it off. Help those who remained on the margins. Look them in the eye. Learn their names». In an increasingly faster and distracted city, Elena and Giuseppe have chosen the slowness of listening, the dignity of daily work, the sacredness of relationships. Their closure leaves a void – But also a moral legacy, made of flour, hands and heart. Customers greet Elena and Giuseppe Spadini with emotion: « I met them as a child, playing with their children », « every morning the scent of their bread accompanied our breakfast ». Hugs and handshakes, messages written on social media, full of gratitude.

Elena, Giuseppe, what is trying to turn off an oven after 43 years?
Elena: «It often happened that the police came at the end of the round, to take a piece of hot focaccia or simply to tell how it went at night. There were the boys of the street, the ladies with the dog, the sleepless ones. The oven has always been open to listening. It’s not just a job. It is welcome. It is presence. It is to be part of the city even when it seems empty ».

Giuseppe: «Every time it is life, it has always been. Also at three in the morning, when Milan seems to sleep but in reality it breathes slowly. You are inside, you are kneading, and there is someone who passes outside, hears the perfume, perceives your movement. It is a form of silent dialogue. The dawn … what can I say most? Alba is a gift ».

What was the most difficult moment in these 43 years?
Elena: «Surviving. Point. There is no more difficult one than others, because each period has had its own weight. There has been ruthless competition, the continuous opening of supermarkets, one after the other … And of course, their products are not the same thing, I am not ashamed to say it. But people look at the price, not always the perfume. Then the euro, which upset everyone’s accounts, and Covid, who broke the rhythms and soul. Each time you had to reinvent yourself, hold on, keep the light of the oven on. « 

Is there a customer or a family that you remember with particular affection?
Elena: «Dr. Perego, our family doctor for forty years. His humanity, his honesty, his availability, visited home even at night. It was present when both my in -laws were missing. Last year was missing. And then the Don of the parishes, the priests, the guardian angels … but most of all my street boys. I knew them by name, I scolded them, listened to them. It was not just a matter of food, it was there. Closing scares me: I seem to have abandoned them. I still look for them on the street. I see them. But it is no longer the same thing ».

Why this decision to close?
Elena: «It’s time to retire. My husband has been working since he was 15 years old – he is a piece of life engraved in the skin, almost an invisible tattoo. The pension is not around the corner, but the body started saying enough. For health reasons, the time had come to stop ».

What do you think you do later?
Elena: «Going around the world, but with the heart always anchored to the lower Lodigiano. I am from there. Of Senna Lodigiana, to be exact. They are a Cabrini, of Sant’Angelo, even if we do not go to Sant’Angelo, but to Senna Lodigiana – that piece of land that remains inside you, even when you go away ».

How much will you miss the shop?
Elena: «This area has something special, almost a small town without the defects of a country. Here there is no chat or gossip, but a sincere solidarity. In the building where we live we have always found ourselves very well, and I believe that our neighbors also appreciated our presence. The manifestations of affection are never random: when people squeeze your hand, or leave you written words, it is because you have left a positive mark. And this is what really matters ».

How has the area and its people change over the years?
Giuseppe: «The company has not remained the same. Here, however, there is something solid, difficult to explain. Perhaps it is people, that category of people who, if they are not a hundred percent Milanese, reflect their soul. But yes, things are a bit worsened, especially on the safety front. The area has become more « corsat », to generalize, there is a little bit of everything, and more. It is no longer what it was, but it remains a place with its soul, although sometimes more complicated to recognize ».

What have you become thanks to work?
Elena: «We have become serene. Yes, serene adults. And satisfied with what we leave ».

Bread and solidarity or solidarity and bread?
Elena: «Solidarity has woven the plot of our life, silent but profound, a golden thread that holds together every day. Yes, this is the meaning, and that’s okay.  »

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