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Are you the type who wishes she had the guts to sell up, move 3,000 miles and start life from scratch? Then you should go and visit Isabelle and Vincent Koenig who did just that. Oh -- and make sure you take your sweet tooth with you when you go!
Isabelle et Vincent is the French bakery in Fairfield which attracts regulars from all over Fairfield County and beyond. I headed over there on a Saturday morning to see what all the buzz was about.
The parking lot was overflowing, and the line of customers was to the door, but a beaming Isabelle was moving her customers along with a cheery Bonjour, comment allez-vous? as they stocked up on breakfast pastries, baguettes for lunch and cookies, tarts and custards for dessert.
I stood and salivated. I felt as if someone had waved a magic wand and dropped me in France. The wonderful smells of sugar and baking treats and breads, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee even the customers had gotten into the spirit of the place and were practicing their rusty high school French.
Vincent was busy in the baking area, flour up to his elbows, so Isabelle filled me in on how the two of them, together with their young children, had made the move from Strasbourg, France, to Fairfield, Connecticut. We wanted a challenge, an adventure, she said. People said we were crazy to sell our bakery in France and move here where we knew no one, but we wanted a change in our lives. We asked the children if they were willing to accept our decision, and they agreed. So here we are!
One of their regulars in Strasbourg, an Irishman with a chain of pubs, happened to have a house in Westport. He invited them to come and scout our area. They arrived in January 2007 in sub-zero weather, and spent a week looking around. They were sold! By July 2007 the family bakery was sold and they were living in a home in Westport, learning English and planning their new US bakery.
Three years later and Isabelles instinct that Fairfield County and not New York City was the right place for them, has been proved right over and over. American people are wonderful, very open and friendly, she says, remembering the neighbor who brought them fresh flowers when they first moved in. We love it here.
And their customers love them. Absolutely everything in the bakery is made from scratch by Vincent and his staff. The bread is made using a long fermentation at a controlled temperature to give it that firm texture and crisp crust. The baguettes are baked in small batches throughout the day so the bread is always fresh.
Isabelle says that their best-sellers are the Napoleon and the Vanilla Strawberry Mousse Cake. They did look awfully good. But the minute I spotted the tray of crunchy, caramel-coated elephant ears, I knew thats what I was having. Oh my, what heaven. Wish I'd bought the whole tray!
Isabelle et Vincent, Traditional French Bakery is at 1903 Post Road, Fairfield Tel: 203 292 8022 Open Tues to Sat 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Closed on Mondays. http://www.isabelleetvincent.com
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