OUR STORY

We were determined to learn how to make the bread we tasted first at a restaurant in Stowe, Vermont.  After more than 20 years in corporate life, we apprenticed to the baker, Gerard Rubaud, and adapted his recipe.  We, and our son, Jared, learned how to make pain de campagne (country bread) in stages, practicing at home in between lessons.

We first made sample loaves in our home oven and took them to local food stores to test the market reaction. The bakery managers wanted the bread immediately but had to wait nine months for us to locate a site, prepare it, purchase and move in the equipment.  A chimney had to be built and the space, formerly an office, had to be improved to meet the health codes.  Fortunately, Wilton, our home town, was most welcoming.

The oven (all 3,000 lbs) had to be brought into the space in pieces and constructed on site. When it was in working order, it was possible to test a large recipe, experiment with different approaches to mixing, and, finally, to begin to sell the bakery’s one product – Pain de Campagne (Country Bread) – at the Weston Farmers’ Market and at the Village Market in Wilton.  Wave Hill Bread began to appear in more and more stores and farmers’ markets.   Before two years had passed, Wave Hill Bread could be purchased at fine food stores from Scarsdale, New York to Bethel, Connecticut and in farmers’ markets as far away from Wilton as Litchfield and Madison and as near as Georgetown, Weston, Westport, and Greenfield Hills.

Michael and Jane Stern, (NPR, www.roadfood.com , Gourmet Magazine) helped spread the word about the bread from the beginning, when Michael wrote that it “is worth driving 100 miles for Wave Hill Bread.”  Later, on Splendid Table (a radio show and Website: www.splendidtable.com ), they exclaimed that “Wave Hill bread is the best bread on the East coast.”
We continue to stand by our one bread-dough approach for delivery to our client stores, restaurants, and country clubs, but now make rustic croutons for stores and farmers markets this summer.  The original bread comes in various shapes including the country loaf, baguette, ficelle, and epi (like a sheaf of wheat) in two sizes.  We can also make custom shapes.

A recent New York Times article says that our making one type of bread is “a little like Chateau Petrus making one kind of wine.”

We and our growing team of bakers, delivery people, and farmers' market staff all gain great satisfaction from the enthusiastic response to our creations.

Margaret Sapir & Mitchell Rapoport, Breadmakers


WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The official title of our company is New England Bread Company, LLC but we wanted to use a more comfy name. A friend suggested we think of something personal we could use and we decided to name our breads after the location of our wedding, WAVE HILL, a public botanical garden on the Hudson River in Riverdale, The Bronx, New York.
Gerard Rubaud
teaching Jared how to
shape country loaves.
196 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut  06897         Tel. 203.762.9595 
  Email:  info@wavehillbreads.com