The Little Bread Bakery That Could: Black Walnut

The Little Bakery That Could: Black Walnut

BY GENA GOLAS

LISA NICHOLS PHOTOS

If you wantbread fromThe BlackWalnutBakery, you’dbetter getthere early.

You’ll be queued up with others, sometimes before the sun has even come up, waiting for the bakery to open. You can watch through one of the bay windows as the bread emerges from the oven and makes its way to the shelves just inches from your nose…only your nose has already sensed what’s coming; the smell of freshly baking bread has been filling this block of East Hampton’s Main Street for hours. The doors will open and soon the bread will be gone, often almost as quickly as it appeared.

“You can watch through one of the bay windows as the bread emerges from the oven

and makes its way to

the shelves just inches

from your nose.”

These early morning bakers’ hours are an adjustment for Christian Michalowski, Master Baker at The Black Walnut, and a research scientist at Alexion Pharmaceuticals for twenty years prior to launching his business. Although the dream of opening the bread bakery was eight years in the making, the 2:45 a.m. alarm clock beckoning him to the shop each morning is fairly new; The Black Walnut opened last December 1 to the excitement of his neighbors in East Hampton. And his customers have been enthusiastic supporters, to say the very least. Some are banging on the window at 5 a.m., maybe just to wave hello, but probably hoping for a loaf fresh from the morning’s first bake.

There’s the gentleman who buys three large loaves every day. And there are the customers who love the signature Nutella loaf so much that, from their place in line, they will count how many people are ahead of them and how many loaves they can view through the window, and calculate if they will be lucky enough to take one home that day. There are days when Christian sells out entirely within 45 minutes of opening the doors. “As long as you get here before 7:30,” he says, “you should be okay.”

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And the remarkable thing is, no one seems to mind much that the bread sells so fast. “That fifteen minute window of time from when we sell out to when we put the sign out is the hardest time,” says Christian. He’s referring to the wooden “Sold Out” sign that his mother made for him, which hangs from the bakery’s front doorknob once the bread is gone for the day. Turning customers away is hard, but Christian will work with you to

The doors will open and soon the bread will be gone, often almost as quickly as it appeared.

ensure you leave with a loaf of his bread. The business’s phone number is his direct line; you can call and speak with him personally to have him set aside a loaf (you probably will want two), or to customize an order.

What if you’re not there before 7:30? Christian will hold your call-ahead order until 9 a.m., or you can pick it up across the street at ECO Coffee House if you’re not an early riser, or you can even pick it up down the road at the Bank of America - Christian’s wife Pina will be happy to help you there. And if you live on Christian’s drive home, he just might offer to deliver it to you personally. Christian usually sends 15

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The Black Walnut follows the European bakery model make the bread, sell out, and go home. And the bakery has been selling out since day one.

loaves every Sunday to the church next door - he’ll leave the bread on a table in the back with an envelope to accept your payment - but the pastor recently had to make an announcement to the congregation to stop leaving church early just so they could ensure themselves a loaf of this coveted bread. It is just that good.

The Black Walnut follows the European bakery model—make the bread, sell out, and go home. And the bakery has been selling out since day one. The first day Christian was open, he sold out of 40 loaves. The next Sunday, 80 loaves. He now makes anywhere from 130-150 loaves every day, plus a few cookies or muffins. Indulge in the sweets, but the bread is far and away the star here. Christian showcases five rotating flavors each day: standards like Honey Oat, French Baguette, and Cinnamon Raisin, and unique offerings like Maple Cornmeal, Lemon Currant, and Himalayan Salt.

Quality takes time, especially in bread making. Christian uses a four-year-old starter in all of his bread and allows for a 14-hour cold fermentation to develop maximum flavor. He exclusively uses King Arthur Flour for quality, and there are no preservatives of any kind in his bread. More than 90 percent of his breads are vegan, save for the Habanero Cheddar and Nutella, which include dairy.

There are no recipes for his bread - none written down, anyway. Christian has been developing his flavors for years for friends and family, but he makes his bread entirely by eye and by hand, quite literally: you won’t find a dough mixer at The Black Walnut.

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“The Black Walnut is very much a one-m

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an

show.”

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There are days when Christian sells out entirely within 45 minutes of opening the doors.

In the 700 square foot space, there’s a table top mixer that is minimally used to mix a batch of cookies or cake, along with one refrigerator, one freezer, a four-deck Blodgett oven, and a small three-bay sink, but each giant batch of bread—200 pounds of flour at a time, plus water, salt, yeast, and other flavors—gets mixed, kneaded and rounded by Christian’s two hands. He occasionally recruits the help of Pina and their kids - Grace, 16, and Connor, 14, - on holidays and weekends to help with the register, but The Black Walnut is very much a one-man show.

And, for now at least, Christian prefers it that way. “You do what works,” he says. Early on in his business planning, Christian considered offering soup or other light lunch options if he needed to build sales. But selling out of 150 loaves of bread alone, each day, has clearly proven successful. He sells tea and hot chocolate, but leaves the coffee sales to ECO Coffee House across the street; bring your loaf over there to enjoy, or grab a cup first and then cross the street to sit in his shop, either way is fine. He has also entertained wholesale inquiries. “It would be an honor to have them sell my bread,” Christian says. But for now, he remains focused on retail sales.

“Everyone wants a relationship now,” says Christian. “They want to know their butcher, they want to know their baker. There’s a Stop and Shop a half mile down the road but everyone comes here for bread.” It sounds like his customers have caught on to The Black Walnut’s motto of “A Simpler Time Remembered” and have embraced this little bread bakery in the center of their town. It’s bread that is bringing a tight-knit town even closer together, one loaf at a time; even if just for a morning, while in line with your neighbors, taking in the heavenly scent of warm bread from the oven while waiting to bring home your own fresh loaf. “The more love and attention you give, the better it comes out,” Christian says of his bread. And that just may be the secret ingredient to the success of The Black Walnut.

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“...the bread is far and away the star here.”

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