By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — A new European-style bakery opened several weeks ago on Church Lane, and ever since, customers have been lining up at Mrs. London’s for fresh pastries, brunch and lunch fare.

Max London, co-owner of the bakery at 44 Church Lane, has been very pleased with the enthusiastic reception the bakery has gotten in Westport, he said. 

“It’s been very steady. We’re very happy with the turnout, and people seem really excited to have us there,” he said.

First established in the 1970s in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mrs. London’s Bakery was born out of passion, according to London. His parents, Michael and Wendy London, shared a love of baking from when they first met in a Greenwich Village bakery, he said.

“They met working in a bakery … they fell in love in a bakery,” London said of his parents. 

In addition to the New York City experience, his father studied baking in Paris for several years. 

The Londons opened their own bakery in Saratoga Springs in 1977, and still are recipe testers for the business, according to their son. And he intends to give the same attention to quality baking at the Westport bakery — the second and only other location of a Mrs. London’s Bakery outside of Saratoga Springs.

“We’re grateful to keep Mrs. London’s going and share the same passion and ingredients” as his parents, he said.

Max London co-owns the Westport bakery with partner Justin Manfro, who lives in Westport, and who has also owned the Mrs. London’s bakery in New York state for several years. Manfro is the business side of the Westport venture, while Max London, a trained chef and baker, oversees the culinary side.  

“I grew up in the bakery,” London said. “I learned the basics from growing up in the business in New York.”

The Westport bakery basically has the same product line as the original bakery, with some additions. The Westport menu features “signature pastries and desserts, sandwiches and Mrs. London’s famous creamy tomato soup,” London said.

Other specialties include salads and quiche, breakfast croissants, blue corn pancakes and Mrs. London’s granola.

 “We’re still an artisan bakery. We’re still making everything from scratch — pastries, cookies and desserts,” he said. The bakery has also applied for a liquor license to serve wine and brunch drinks.

The Westport location was originally scheduled to open about a year ago, but delays in getting permits from the town, supply-chain problems with ordering equipment and labor shortages hampering crews doing the remodeling, put the opening off for almost a year.

“Everything took a little longer than expected … We’re happy to finally be open,” London said.

Since opening, London said he has been impressed with the sense of community in Westport, London added.

“We were very picky about where to put our second location,” he said. “We love Westport. It seems like the perfect location.”

Mrs. London’s Bakery, 44 Church Lane, is open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call 203-557-0299.