Eggplant is one of those foods that can spark strong feelings—love, disdain, or, apparently, a long-simmering vendetta that erupts after years of percolating. Every so often, a story appears that makes you stop and marvel at the strange mechanics of memory, patience, and, well, questionable priorities. Case in point: the tale emerging from Paterson, New Jersey’s Baladna Bakery, where, according to multiple sources, a four-year-old sandwich order recently led to a genuinely alarming act of violence.
Four Years, One Sandwich, and a Box Cutter
If you need reassurance that the universe churns out unpredictable storylines daily, several outlets—including ABC7NY—report there’s a man currently sought by police after he allegedly stabbed two bakery owners because he received eggplant on a sandwich he’d ordered… in 2021. Not last week, not in April—four years ago.
As NBC New York details, the suspect—described as having both “a long memory and a short temper”—showed up at Baladna Bakery early Thursday, reportedly first confronting a staff member about his ancient sandwich woes before things escalated. Initially, he brought up a complaint about a hot dog missing from a recent order, but soon shifted the conversation to a sandwich he claimed to have ordered four years earlier, which, to his lingering resentment, contained eggplant. Moneer Simrin, identified by NBC New York as a friend of the Assad brothers, explained that after the staff tried to placate the man—offering both the hot dog and $3 in credit—the suspect continued cursing, became violent, and attacked the owners with a box cutter. Simrin also indicated that the man had come into the bakery several days prior, asking for the owners.
Both Abed and Mohammad Assad—the brothers who own the business—were slashed, one in the arm and the other in the chest, according to local police cited in PIX11 News. The outlet also notes both were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, with one brother’s arm bandaged from elbow to wrist and the other undergoing further treatment for stab wounds to the chest. As video footage from a nearby insurance company captured, the suspect ran north on Main Street, leaving behind a closed bakery, a shaken community, and a chorus of bewildered witnesses.
The Mystery of the Monumental Grudge (With Extra Eggplant)
It’s not every day you encounter the phrase “He told him, ‘you give me eggplant in my sandwich and then my stomach was bothering me’” uttered in the context of a major crime. According to WHSV, the suspect claimed an allergy linked to that old sandwich, explaining he’d felt unwell as a result.
The oddity doesn’t end at memory: most people, encountering an unfortunate culinary misadventure, might shake their heads, leave a two-star review, or simply avoid the offending eatery. Few decide to harbor a grudge for nearly half a decade, then return, knife in hand, ready to escalate a vegetarian faux pas into something much darker.
Customers and witnesses interviewed by ABC7NY expressed shock at the incident, emphasizing that Baladna is a “nice place—clean, and the service is great.” One witness who spoke to WHSV described hearing shouting and seeing the bakery owner outside, arm bleeding. By all accounts, as PIX11 also highlighted, the Assad brothers are well-liked—a fixture in the neighborhood. The violence, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh told PIX11, was “surprising” and out of character for the area.
The Shoelace of Suffering: Unraveling the Logic
It’s tempting to construct a psychological profile—what possesses someone to remember a sandwich mishap with such persistence? While NBC New York notes that Assad recognized the perpetrator from four years ago, the exact logic chain from mild food allergy to attempted murder remains elusive. There’s an archival purity to the grudge: an ordinary lunch order, left to marinate until it curdles into violence. Attempts by bakery staff to diffuse the situation by offering credit, as described by both NBC New York and PIX11, failed completely.
The aftermath stretches beyond the immediate victims. ABC7NY explains that the bakery remains closed as of Friday, not only taking a physical toll on the family but adding significant financial strain as well. With police still searching for the suspect, Mayor Sayegh has promised “swift justice,” and is actively seeking cooperation from nearby merchants, emphasizing to ABC7NY that authorities are determined to bring whomever is responsible to justice.
To Err is Human—To Forgive, Apparently Not if Eggplant’s Involved
Reviewing the ingredients of this saga, you’re left with lingering questions. Why eggplant? Why four years? Did the suspect truly believe that after all that time, the great sandwich injustice of 2021 would be righted by violence? Or is this just another example of the unpredictable, sometimes perilous, nature of human grudge-keeping?
In a quiet New Jersey bakery, a routine day was upended—not by changing tastes, viral TikToks, or market forces, but by the stubborn durability of a single, inconvenient vegetable. The details, as described by NBC New York, PIX11, and ABC7NY, stray so far into the absurd that they almost circle back toward tragic again. All over a sandwich, four years gone, topped with eggplant.
Who among us hasn’t been served the wrong lunch? But how many keep the receipt—for this long, with such consequences? You have to wonder what other minor slights are quietly ticking down to detonation in someone’s mental pantry. And is there a statute of limitations for sandwich-related grievances, or does eggplant just age poorly for some? The world, apparently, keeps us guessing.
