A new Bakery and Cafe in Norwalk

By Frank Whitman

What if your bakery made some of the most delicious bread anywhere? What if it had been named Best Bread in Connecticut by Food and Wine Magazine? What if your buttery cinnamon monkey bread made children of all ages beg for more?  What if your authentic Roman-style natural-yeast pizzas were the talk of the town?  What if you had loyal customers standing in line at any of forty-six farmers markets across Connecticut and New York for their favorite loaf? What if your breads were on the menus of great restaurants across the region. What would you do next?

If you were Tim Topi, owner of Norwalk’s Wave Hill Breads and you’d done all these things, you’d open a retail bakery and cafe on the Post Road.  And that’s just what he did.  A master baker trained in Rome, Topi brought his skill to Norwalk and created a flour and yeast power house. 

The stylish bakery – slickly done up in white and gray with plenty of natural wood and gleaming stainless steel – serves up sandwiches (on Wave Hill Bread of course) and so much more. Pizza on Topi’s classic Roman crust is available for one in a personal size or full size for a gang.  New to the repertoire are tempting pastries and desserts created in-house by second generation pastry chef Sophia.  And there are even salads, if you must. 

There’s a full Italian coffee setup including a gleaming La Spaziale Espresso machine brought over from Bologna.   Too hot for some joe?  Get a lemonade, fresh-squeezed from organic fruit. All the ingredients here are top-notch, sourced from the best artisanal producers. 

Croissants (in multiple styles) and coffee are the thing for breakfast (the bakery opens at 6:00). Imagine stopping into a cafe in Rome.  The experience here is pretty close but without the historic architecture.

Sandwiches at lunch run the gamut, all based on the delicious breads.  

But before we take a bite, let’s take a minute here to discover the breads. My favorite is the French Country Three-Grain – spelt and rye berries freshly milled in-house combined with enriched wheat flour.  It comes as a fanciful epi, a full baguette, a chubby boule or my preference, a fat batard.  The wild yeast sourdough, also in a range of shapes, is the same trio of grains fermented with a tangy natural starter. Tasty loaves of pumpernickel, focaccia, ciabatta, and semolina are also in the Wave Hill offerings. 

The many flavors of pizza Romana are all based on a light and crunchy Roman-style crust. Sliced pan loaves include Buttermilk White (a must have for toast and grilled cheese when the grandkids visit), Honey Whole Wheat, Brioche and more. We’re never without a couple loaves of Wave Hill in the freezer. 

Back to the sandwiches ($14 to $19):  I had the Fowl Play – turkey breast with Nodine’s Smokehouse bacon, alpine swiss, marinated tomatoes, little gem lettuce and a zingy honey-dijon mayo served on 14 Grain; Marsha had the organic egg salad and Catsmo smoked salmon open face, scattered with cornichons and capers, on a slice of the 14 grain; her sister, Brenda, opted for the classic Jambon de Paris with Emmental, French butter, cornichon and Fallot tarragon mustard on the three-grain baguette. Brenda was pleased to see some of the sandwiches ready-made and on display – easy to eyeball and quick to be served. 

I have a list to try next time we visit: the Côte D’ Azur, a Niçoise salad on country bread; Farouk’s Favorite, like a caprese salad with basil-pistou vinaigrette on focaccia; or maybe Il Padreno, a meaty Italian deli sandwich with hot peppers on semolina.   

Wave Hill pizza is a hit at our house. It’s been available par-baked and frozen to bake at home.  Now it’s right out of the oven at the Bakery ($17 to 24 full size, $12 to 16 personal size). A few of the flavors are Margherita, Prosciutto Crudo, Buratta, and Topi’s Favorite – potatoes, garlic, rosemary, green onions and mozzarella.

When we walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the front-and-center pastry case. Fruit tarts, cheesecakes, passion fruit-mango cake, pear tart, and rum-soaked baba are just a few of the goodies strutting their stuff.

The artfully presented food is delicious, the staff friendly and capable, the atmosphere stylish and there’s even a window to peek into the kitchen.  The authentically Roman Wave Hill Breads Bakery is the next step for Tim Topi, and it’s a big one.