Viral Bread Taxi turns Daejeon into Korea’s bakery pilgrimage capital
“The taxi is booked through the end of the year. For the bus, you can reserve through the travel site.” These were Ahn Sung-woo’s words, said from behind the wheel of his “Bread Taxi,” answering call after call from customers hoping to book his bakery tour in Daejeon. The phone has barely stopped ringing since the 64-year-old driver started Bread Taxi, a service that takes passengers to bakeries around Daejeon, and went viral on social media. His taxi has become almost as familiar as Sungsimdang, Daejeon’s famed bakery. At Daejeon Station on May 6, Ahn handed “bakery pilgrimage” certificates to passengers who had completed the bakery tour, his playful name for the route he takes through various Daejeon bakeries. The passengers beamed as they received the certificates and posed for photos. To keep up with surging demand, Ahn began operating a Bread Bus in May. Even after passengers left, reservation calls and text messages arrived every few minutes. When asked how his life changed since the Bread Taxi took off, he said, “These days are the happiest.” Ahn’s route to the
