“The Bakery” Opens on Farmington Ave.
By Bob Mayer | Correspondent at December 18, 2023 | 9:15 am | Print
When The Bakery opened for a test run this weekend ahead of its grand opening on Dec. 15, owner Enzo Formica was shocked.
“We opened on Friday and this weekend was nuts,” Formica said. “I am really excited that when we’re open for a while and people see that we’re open here in the newspaper that we will really take off. I’m really optimistic.”
The Bakery at 1083 Farmington Ave. is Berlin first opened on the Berlin Turnpike before moving to its current space.
Formica is no stranger to the area business customers. He worked at San Remo Bakery, a staple on Farmington Ave. for 30 years before closing in 2014.
“My grandfather started the San Remo business in 1982 and then my uncle continued it,” Formica said. “I was upset when the family decided to close and sell wholesale breads. I was looking to continue the business but make it my own as well.”
The Bakery will feature many of the same things San Remo did. It will have hot and cold lunches as well as deli sandwiches, salads and soups each day. It will feature sauce and grated cheese pizza as well as breakfast pizza.
Formica says, however, this will not be San Remo-light.
“It’s going to be a lot like San Remo but we will have some even better recipes and some things will be totally different than San Remo,” he said. “I think our lunch will be popular once people find out what we have and that we’re here but I have seen the pastry fly off the shelf this weekend so people have been loving the selection.”
One new touch will be an Italian Marketplace. There is a space that remains empty near the front of the store that will show off wares imported from Italy. One week it could be olives and the next something completely different.
So how did the name come about?
“My wife Christine (Formica) and I were talking about it and I said what about ‘The Bakery,’” Formica said. “She liked it. She said there is ‘The Bar’ in Newington and she thought people would remember it. We’ll have all new signage coming in the next few weeks which will make us stand out.”
Formica said opening before the holiday will be great for the business.
“Working in ad now owning a bakery is a lifestyle,” he said. “They say the night before Thanksgiving is the biggest night to go out the entire year, well my cousins and I we never went out on the night before Thanksgiving. We worked, sometimes 48 straight hours baking for the customers so they could have a great Thanksgiving. Christmas is much of the same.”
The store is beautiful inside with shiny flooring and counters.
“It’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears building here but we love the way it came out and we’re triple the size we were on the Turnpike,” Formica said. “We hope the people in Berlin and New Britain and the surrounding towns will come see us and give us a try. I can guarantee they won’t be disappointed.”
