Latvian Rye Bread

Sought by a friend from Chicago, home to a large and diverse Eastern European community. Not sure what is characteristically Latvian about it, but I'll ask. I noticed some discussion of Lithuanian food/bakeries on the outer-boroughs board but don't want to assume the 2 L-countries are interchangeable vis a vis cuisine (or anything else)...Any suggestions?

I was driving today on Avenue U in Brooklyn and passed a corner store with a big sign: King of Latvia deli. I immediately called my Latvian friend on the UWS who asked that I stop in to get some sour rye bread. Alas, time didn't permit, but you could check out this shop as a possible source.

Thanks, Susan. I passed the information on to my friend; he called the store and found out the owner flies the rye in from Riga every Thursday. We've yet to make a pick-up but will let you know the results when we do!

there's a deli in brighton beach whose name i never bothered learning. if you get off the train and walk toward coney island on the north side of the street, it's about four blocks down with a yellow awning. counters on either side with the bread sold in the middle. anyway, they fly a couple of different breads in weekly from riga's hanzas maiznieks, a good commerical baker in the latvian capital. i don't know if there's a rye, as i never get past the sweet-sour (saldskab maize) and black breads. the latter is brilliant with fresh sour cream.