Bridgeport Bakery: A new crowd enjoys Old World pastries
In the era of cookie cutter coffee and pastry chains stands the small, white clapboard Bridgeport Bakery. Located in Chicago's ethnically diverse Bridgeport neighborhood, this bakery offers Old World baked goods --Polish, Bohemian and Lithuanian--to name a few, fresh from the oven.
Located on Archer Avenue, the bakery is a local favorite with both the older and younger residents of this working class community. The most sought after treat is the bacon bun, a Lithuanian tradition of crisp bacon housed inside a delicious gold crusted bun. Bacon bun fanatics arrive before 9 a.m., knowing well how quickly they sell out. All baked goods are made on the premises by bakers who forever have etched in their memory the recipes that go back several generations. Realizing that there was no one to make a particular item should a baker call in sick, the owners finally made recipe cards.
Although they formally open at 5 a.m., it's not uncommon for customers to knock on the bakery door as early as 3:30 a.m., seeking a hot cup of coffee and something to eat before they head for work. On any given day, you can walk into Bridgeport Bakery and see an interesting mix of young artists who are moving into the neighborhood as well as babushka-wearing grandmothers. Amanda, the Slovakian owner's niece says that many of the patrons walk in and remember from their youth the clock hanging on the wall.
Want to try? Everything. Bridgeport Bakery's poppy seed or cheese coffee cake are neighborhood favorites. The cheese filling is homemade, a secret blend of baker's cream cheese, butter, milk and other tasty ingredients. Traditional Bohemian kolachy -- cheese, apricot, poppy seed and raspberry -- are round rather than folded and are dusted with powdered sugar. The poppy seed or cheese pockets beat a Danish any day. For a taste of heaven, try the meringue filled horn. Daily, the bakers make fresh Polish rye bread, Bohemian Hoska and potato bread. Bridgeport's apple slices are generous and the krulers -- a lightly fried, thin dough with powdered sugar, are feathery and fragile and one is never enough.
Bridgeport Bakery makes their own sweet rolls and one of the most popular is the chocolate cake donut.
During the ethnic holidays such as Fat Tuesday, locals as well as customers from as far away as Pennsylvania line up down Archer for the bakery's 19 varieties of Paczki, Polish jelly-filled rolls. Hot Cross Buns in blueberry, raspberry and custard are just as popular during the Lenten season. Easter brings lamb cakes, blessing bread and egg shaped pound cakes. For Thanksgiving, bakers work around the clock filling orders for Bohemian Hoska bread. Fall favorites include fresh plum coffeecakes and pumpkin slices. And Christmas brings fresh German Stollen. A little secret for those of you who can't wait for Fat Tuesday—Bridgeport Bakery makes four flavors of Paczki year round and they will whip up any flavor for an order placed ahead of time.
HelloChicago Tip: This is a bakery you want to put on your list of things you hope never change in Chicago. A trip to Bridgeport Bakery is a must. Why? For a bacon bun or a poppy seed pocket. For a cheese kolachy. For the mere pleasure of seeing the Old World settle in with all that is new in Bridgeport.
Posted by Lori Rotenberk
