EIt's 3:04 AM when Daniel gets out of the taxi and greets me. I am waiting for him with a bag containing four copies of the volume Lands and a liter of palinca, also from Mircea Groza. About half an hour before, I had approached him on WhatsApp to treat me to a coffee. Did.

It's 6:50 and I started writing this text. I only stayed with Daniel for about an hour and a half. Between DeltaT0 and DeltaT1 I also wrote other things and chewed the information a bit. I'm pretty broke, although I slept terribly yesterday, but I've been working since 1 o'clock. He comes to the bakery every day at 3 o'clock. Almost a lifetime. He wouldn't want to, but he has nowhere to go: the staff crisis in HoReCa is also felt at Tecuci and on Polonă 89. "If I'm ten minutes late in the morning, I stay an extra hour at noon. They all shift and then overlap like crazy," says Daniel. I have to admit that this diminutive name fits like a nut in the wall or a nut shell in a cake pan with the former performance rugby player, broad in the shoulders as the oven, with arms worked in tons of dough and a guttural, apparently unfriendly voice. And yet Daniel is the one who "steals every event I invite him to". He is charismatic and "sells" an emotion that I have no way of reaching. I tell stories, he tells stories but he also brings bread. I can't compete with this thing.

Yesterday he announced that the bakery he changes his schedule. From today it is also closed on Mondays. And it will stay that way even if it finds staff. "I'm looking for someone to come at night in my place. I come too, especially when there is a lot of work, but I would like to allow myself to arrive later and see more of my tests, creation, study", he tells me. Meanwhile the coffee on offer cools in the back area. Daniel has a ritual practiced and calculated to the second: he turns on the ovens on the way to the locker room. Remove the dough, start the mixer, remove the bread from the yeast (slow leavening of 24/48 hours) and put them in the oven. In the front of the bakery, where the customers are served, it's sad. The shelves are empty and it still doesn't smell like fresh bread.
"Monday will remain closed from now on. Both the employees and I need to be rested. I don't want to get rich, I don't want to die too soon either. I'm not complaining, I'm used to this work, but somehow I should focus on other things: tests for other doughs, courses for future bakers, to be able to attend more HoReCa events without losing sleep. Now I would need only one man, but a good one: he must be serious and want to learn. That's it. I don't need any scientist. Be careful and conscientious. I teach him everything and at first I stay with him until I see that he can handle himself. The salary is good and can increase".

People stopped by the bakery, he was called again. Some have lied to him about their level and experience, some want accommodation on top of the high salary, some want pay just to show up for work and raises if they get their hands on it. Like in all fields.
He put loaves in the oven, rolled out other doughs and prepared others for tomorrow. Find time for a cigarette break as well. It's still very hot outside even this late at night and we're talking in whispers so as not to disturb. It's even hotter inside, but that's how it is next to the ovens. Now he's portioning, shaping, taking out loaves, putting in pretzels, taking out baguettes, putting in pastry, and I'm watching him and sweating. I tell him this and he shows me the shirt: this is the first one, I change about three a day.

It's already 7:20 a.m. and an hour or so ago another employee came to place the bread on the shelves, make the sandwiches, slice them and wait for the customers. I already took a shower and sent some emails.
Daniel's story is told in many interviews and reports so I won't repeat it. He has about 20 years of experience, dozens of diplomas from different specialized courses in several countries and about two years ago he returned to Romania and opened Casa del Pan on Polonă Street 89, where he makes bread the way it should it is made and innovates more. Look for him there, but please don't talk to him too much. You'll know when the time is right for the tackle after the job ads posted in the bakery disappear.
