Tag Archives: Mrs. London’s Bakery

Roundup: Lynsey Addario’s Ukraine, Mrs. London’s Credit Cards …

Yesterday’s New York Times featured a Page 1, top-of-the-fold story about a female Ukrainian soldier. It begins:

Just over a year ago, Yulia Bondarenko’s days were full of lesson plans, grading and her students’ seventh-grade hormones.

When Russian missiles shattered that routine and Russian troops threatened her home in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Ms. Bondarenko, 30, volunteered to fight back, despite her lack of experience, the grave risk to her life and Ukraine’s apparently impossible odds.

“I never held a rifle in my hands and never even saw one up close,” Ms. Bondarenko said. “In the first two weeks, I felt like I was in a fog. It was just a constant nightmare.”

The harrowing text is accompanied by Lynsey Addario’s haunting photos. The 1991 Staples High School graduate — a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur fellowship grant winner — made 5 trips to Ukraine last year.

She followed Bondarenko’s journey on four4 of them, reporting from the Kyiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Click here for the full story, and Lynsey’s powerful photographs.

Yulia Bondarenko learns how to use a rifle. (Photo/Lynsey Addario for the New York Times)

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Alert “06880” reader Gil Ghitelman is a fan of Mrs. London’s Bakery — to a limit. He writes:

“Mrs. London’s is a welcome addition to the Westport dining experience. While I miss the vibe engendered by Java at the same Church Lane location several years ago, their pastries, albeit pricey, are quite delicious.

“What I find disturbing is their 3.5% surcharge for credit card use. The only outfits (other than gas stations) that I’m aware of using this ploy are online gun dealers.

“Mrs. London’s is only shooting itself in the foot if they continue this practice.”

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Longtime Westporter Phyllis Makovsky died in her home, surrounded by her family, following an inspiring fight against leukemia. She was 80 years old.

The Queens native graduated from Barnard College with honors, and earned a master’s degree in teaching from Harvard University.

She was passionate in the classroom. She taught advanced math at the Brearley School in Manhattan and Great Neck South High School on Long Island, before turning her skills and compassion to her family, and through prominent roles in the community.

In 1972 Phyllis met Kenneth Makovsky. They married within months, and shared a partnership of 50 years. The couple enabled each other’s successes in business, at home and in their social and philanthropic lives. She served as a crucial strategic advisor to Ken as he built the public relations agency Makovsky & Company.

Phyllis was a doer. Her work came in many forms. She served Temple Israel as a board member for 10 years. She established a scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis dedicated to music. After her second diagnosis with breast cancer, she returned to Norwalk Hospital as a volunteer in the chemo-infusion center. She spent 20 years there — and returned to the same room for her final leukemia treatments. She was greeted with big hugs.

Phyllis used her talents as a teacher, and her combination of grace, grit and empathy, to make sure that her family could shine. As a friend and a sister she did the same. Phyllis was present, kind and insightful, and her love and good energy was returned to her by many.

Phyllis is survived by her husband Kenneth, sons Matt and Evan, and brother Stephen.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow (Tuesday, February 21, 1 p.m., Temple Israel). Burial will follow at 225 Richards Ave in Norwalk. Shiva will be observed at her Westport home tomorrow (Tuesday, February 21, post-service until 8 p.m.), and Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m..

To livestream the funeral service, please click here. Go to the YouTube page; it will be the first “live” video listing for the day. To share a condolence message, click here. Memorial contributions may be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

(Phyllis Makovsky was the subject of a song written by her son Matt. Click here for that story, posted last Friday on “06880.”)

Phyllis Makovsky

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We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: There’s nature all over Westport, including the heart of downtown.

Claudia Sherwood Servidio captured this “Westport … Naturally” scene, just a few feet from the Parker Harding Plaza pavement.

(Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)

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And finally … speaking of Mrs. London’s pie’s: Does she know Mrs. Wagner?

(“06880” is “where Westport meets the world (including America).” Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

Roundup: Greens Farms Spirit Shop, Coffee, Hot Dogs …

“06880” reported yesterday that Greens Farms Spirit Shop was for sale. It was right there online, with an MLS listing.

Yesterday afternoon, owner Nick Conti emailed:

“Been hearing a lot of chatter today about my store being for sale. I can personally tell you: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’ The store is not, in fact, for sale. I have had the store for almost 4 years now and couldn’t be happier in Westport. It’s a tremendous community!”

It seems a broker Nick had not met before misinterpreted an offhand remark, and posted — without his knowledge — an item about the sale. (“The MLS is a strange place to market a business,” Nick adds.)

So, not only is Greens Farms Spirit Shop not for sale. But the store was just recognized as one of the nation’s Top 100 retailers, by Beverage Dynamics magazine.

It’s all good. Party on!

Not for sale!

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Alert — and thirsty (though not for alcohol) – “06880” reader Mark Lassoff writes:

“I get off I-95 at the Southport exit yesterday, on my way to my Westport office.

“The Maple Avenue Dunkin’ Donuts was shuttered, without warning.

“The ‘New Dunkin’ opening in 3 days’ sign in Compo Shopping Center had not changed in a week

“Coffee An’ is closed for vacation.

“And Mrs. London’s Bakery is closed and locked, with no lights on and no sign on the door.

“I was forced to get coffee at Manna Toast ($5.19, from a thermos).

“When will the new Dunkin’ open? Downtown office workers are having a coffee crisis!”

Too bad, Mark: You should have looked more closely (or perhaps driven by a few minutes later).

Westport’s newest/most recently relocated Dunkin’ opened yesterday. Enjoy!

(Pro tip: Park in the back lot. There’s plenty of room. Unlike, ahem, the front.)

Closed for vacation!

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Everyone continues to rave about Old Mill Grocery — the newly reopened deli/market on Hillspoint Road.

And by “everyone,” we mean all kinds of people.

And their pets.

With plenty of dog treats on the shelf (courtesy of Earth Animal), we’ve seen lots of tail wagging — inside, and out front.

Bobo, at Old Mill Grocery. (Photo/Sunil Hirani)

Cathy Malkin sent this photo of Yogi Bear, and says he  gives the new place “2 paws up”:

(Photo/Cathy Malkin)

Meanwhile, Maggie Moffitt Rahe reports — happily — “the line was out the door. One can only say ‘thank you” to the donors for opening the doors again. It’s bustling, and beautiful.”

Old Mill Grocery. (Photo/Maggie Moffitt Rahe)

Classic scene is back. (Photo/Patty Gabal)

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Not far away at Compo, every Tuesday during the summer, the Y’s Men picnic near the cannons. Once a year, they use it to raise funds for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

This week’s hot dog cookout for the camp was the most successful ever

Several dozen Y’s Men and spouses — plus frequent Y’s Men speaker and loyal supporter 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker — enjoyed hundreds of dogs. They were donated by Y’s Man David Kalman, and grilled by members Roy McKay and Larry Licht.

1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker drops a contribution in the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp bag. (Photo/Bob Mitchell)

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Also at Compo: For a few weeks after it was installed, the new electronic sign notifying beachgoers of the parking situation sat idle.

Yesterday, it worked.

Well, if you disregard those diagonal black lines everywhere.

(Photo/Matt Murray)

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Flyers distributed yesterday in Saugatuck announced a state Department of Transportation “I-95 Resurfacing and Median Reconstruction Project, to begin July 2022.”

The bridge over Saugatuck Avenue will be replaced, using “Accelerated Bridge Construction Methods called Lateral Slide, which minimizes the disruption to I-95 commuters.”

In addition, the I-95 bridges over Franklin Street and the Saugatuck River will undergo concrete deck repairs, replacement of expansion joints and installation of new standpipes.

A portion of the structure will be replaced over a weekend, with 2 lanes of traffic in each direction.

Other work includes:

  • Reconstruction of the center median and right shoulders along with resurfacing of the highway mainline and ramps at Interchanges 16 and 17.
  • Median will be reconstructed consistent with other stretches of I-95 to provide a 6-foot-wide capped concrete barrier section.
  • Wider left and right shoulders where possible.
  • Improve drainage by replacing and re-routing drainage structures
  • Replacement of the existing highway illumination system
  • Install new realigned Incident Management System (IMS)
  • Install new guide rail
  • Utilize wet retroreflective pavement markings to provide increased visibility of pavement markings in wet conditions.

(Hat tip: Ken Stamm)

I-95 bridge over the Saugatuck River. (Drone photo/Brandon Malin)

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Matthew Hooper and his wife live near downtown. On Tuesday night, walking in that often bustling area, he spotted 2 deer.

One was happily hanging out at the Millman & Millman law office. Moments later it as joined by another, strolling right down the yellow line on Main Street.

Whether they were looking for legal advice, or perhaps a gelato, they captured Matthew’s attention. And he captured one on camera, for “Westport … Naturally.”

(Photo/Matthew Hooper)

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And finally … Mark Lassoff may not be able to find a cup of coffee. But if he’s lookin for java:

 

Roundup: Mrs. London, Student Futures, Fashion …

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Our long wait is over.

Mrs. London’s Bakery — the highly anticipated, long-delayed successor to Aux Delices, Java, Wild Pear, Chef’s Table, and a few other places I’ve probably forgotten on Church Lane, at the foot of Elm Street — is scheduled to open the moment this Roundup hits your email inbox: 10 a.m. today.

That’s according to Sal Liccione, the unofficial mayor of downtown.

The 2nd outpost of the Saratoga Springs-based shop features pastries, baguettes, croissants, grilled sandwiches, paninis, salads, quiches, soups, “decadent desserts,” espressos and teas. Ingredients are organic, locally grown and sourced.

Word from upstate New York fans is that Mrs. London’s Bakery will be worth the wait.

And let’s hope she is around much longer than some of her predecessors.

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The Staples High School Guidance Department invites seniors, their parents — and anyone else interested — to “Spark Your Future.”

The counselors, through their College & Career Center, are sponsoring a 4-part series. Alumni tell stories of how they got where they are, with all the twists and turns that make up life. The goal is for students to learn from others who were in their shoes a decade or so ago — and perhaps “spark” an idea or two for the future.

Each event includes information on the importance of soft skills too — learning from failure, networking, persistence.

The most recent session — about careers in media and entrepreneurship — featured Nicole Seo (Staples Class of 2011), who runs a recruiting business; D.J. Sixsmith ’11, senior manager, social media for CBS News; Melanie Mignucci ’12, lifestyle editor at Bustle, and Rachel Treisman ’15, digital correspondent for NPR.

Next up: Careers in Business and Computer Science. Georgia Fox ’16, Megan Root ’15 and Jake McCambley ’11 will be panelists. It’s Tuesday, April 5, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Click here to register. Everyone is welcome.

The May 3 session focuses on careers in science.

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Sustainability and fashion. What could be less of a pairing?

But the 2 concepts come together March 28 (6:30 p.m., Wakeman Town Farm).
Therese LeFever, Cynthia Davis, Carly Ridloff and Haley Lieberman will discuss the effects of fast fashion on our environment, consumers and workers.

Attendees will learn how to identify sustainable businesses, make smarter buying choices, and what it means to be a conscious consumer.

The event also spotlights local sustainable clothing businesses, including Our Woven Community, The Exchange Project, and Shop Tomorrows, to show how they make an eco-friendly impact on the fashion community.

Click here to register, and for more information.

Fashionable? Sustainable? Both?

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The Artists Collective of Westport’s pop-up shows are always fun, inspiring, and surprising. Members’ eclectic styles and subjects somehow always come together in provocative ways.

The next one is March 24-27 (2 to 6 p.m., Westport Country Playhouse barn). A reception is set for March 23 (6 to 8 p.m.), with an artists’ talk March 27 at 4 p.m.

Participating artists include Tom Berntsen, Michael Brennecke, Bevi Bullwinkel, Leonor Dao, Hernan Garcia, Katheryn Gray, Carmela Kaufman, Karen Kent, Sandra Meagher, Guy Philips, Norm Siegel and Ginny aters.

To learn more about the under-the-radar (but very cool) Artists Collective, click below.

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Speaking of art: Amy Simon Fine Art welcomes the new season with a show aptly called “(We Need) The Promise of Spring.”

Featured artists at the 123 Post Road East gallery include Liz Dexheimer, Cara Enteles and Fumiko Toda.

It opens tomorrow (March 18) and runs through April 30. When the weather, we are sure, will be as beautiful as the paintings.

“Passion Daze” (Cara Enteles, oil and silkscreen on acrylic sheet)

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Sure, and it’s St. Paddy’s Day! Celebrate with Weston’s favorite pig, Jolantha.

With the luck of the Irish — or any luck at all — you can see her on Kellogg Hill Road.

(Photo/Hans Wilhelm)

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Morning walkers, joggers, bikers, fishermen — and anyone else wandering by Schlaet’s Point — enjoy scenes like this “Westport … Naturally” one every day.

(Photo/Lauri Weiser)

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These days we are all Ukrainian.

And today, we’re all Irish.