Rick’s challah bread finds a new home at The Granola Bar

Challah

While our family is not religious, Friday night Shabbat dinner has been a tradition for as long as I can remember in my house.  No matter what my brothers and I were doing, we would always come home for dinner every Friday night to eat with the family. If we had friends with us, they would join and we would always ask our friends to do one of the prayers.  

Aside from being with family, the thing that always cements Friday night dinners is the challah. 

For those of your who don’t know what challah is, it is a loaf of braided bread and is similar in flavor to brioche. It is usually a simple dough that is made with eggs, water, flour, yeast and salt.

For the first 8 years of my life, every Friday, my mom would go pick up our challah from Rick at Great cakes. Great Cakes also had the best cupcakes and baked goods, and for special occasions we were allowed to have the cupcakes and other yummy treats there. But the challah - yum!! My favorite. 

Unfortunately, Rick had to close down Great Cakes in early 2014. Fortunately, with Rick’s loyal following of Fairfield County challah-enthusiasts, he was able to find a new home for his bakery housed within the locally owned Peter’s Market in Weston. While we continued eating Ricks challah for a while, it wasn’t always easy for my mom to get to Weston each Friday. For some time, we tried out different challah breads from other local bakeries. For a period of time, we got our challahs at the French bakery Isabelle and Vincent. We tried Baldiccis. We tried challah from a French bakery in Greenwich, Raphael’s. My mom tried making challah. But nothing was the same as Rick’s. He had some sort of magic touch when it came to challah - it was doughy and buttery, light and airy. During the pandemic, Peter’s market was sadly forced to close it’s doors as well. I was sad thinking I would never have that delicious challah again. Our Shabbat dinners just wouldn’t be the same without it.

Before long, we began hearing rumors that Rick was, once again, looking for a new home to continue creating his magic. And then poof - he began baking out of the Granola Bar in Westport! To our delight, the Stiles Market in town, where my mom shops most days, began carrying his breads as well! I was ecstatic.

His challah is soft, and rich and fluffy  It has just enough sweetness but not too much. It doesn’t have much of the egg flavor that I don’t like about of other challahs. It literally melts in your mouth. I love having it leftover as cinnamon sugar toast or French toast. I like it toasted with butter. 

Nothing can replace Ricks challah. Whether you celebrate Shabbat or not, it is the absolute best!! GO OUT AND TRY IT TODAY!!