Rising to the top

By AMANDA BENSEN

Published in The Post-Star
March 7, 2007

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Life is sweet for Michael London, especially in sight of newsstands this month. A nine-page homage to his Broadway bakery, Mrs. London's, graces the March issue of Saveur, a national culinary magazine.

The "America's Greatest Baker" promo on the magazine cover might be, as he says, "a bit over the top," but that seems fitting for someone in the business of indulgence.

"It's the kind of cover that could get you enemies," he said. "It would have been preferable if they said America's greatest bakery."

But he likes the subtitle inside the magazine: "A gifted baker with the soul of a poet brings the refined art of the French pastry to upstate New York."

Almost four decades ago, only part of that was true -- the poet in upstate New York. London taught poetry at Skidmore College from 1968 to 1970, and was among the founders of the school's groundbreaking literary magazine, Salmagundi. But he felt "alienated and strange" in an intellectual environment, and became intrigued with the idea of working with his hands to reconnect with physical realities.

"Baking was a way of becoming a part of the world and not apart from it," he said, repeating what he told Darra Goldstein, the author of the Saveur article.

London, who grew up in Brooklyn, moved back to the city to become a bakers' union apprentice. It was a difficult career shift. The head of the apprenticeship program told him there were far more applicants than openings, and he would have to find a bakery that specifically wanted him.

He finally gained access to the kitchen of William Greenberg Jr. Desserts in Manhattan.

"Mr. Greenberg thought I was out of my gourd, because I had a master's degree and I wanted to do what was basically slave labor," Michael said. "But I kept going back, and, finally, he relented."

In retrospect, London calls it a "karmic moment," because he was tied up in jury duty when Greenberg told him to report to the bakery immediately if he wanted the job. The master of jurors turned out to be a former bakery manager who "recognized this sort of pivotal moment in my career, and released me," London said.

By 1977, he had met and married Wendy, a fellow chef, and moved back to Saratoga Springs to be closer to his son from a previous marriage. The couple opened the first incarnation of Mrs. London's on Phila Street, where Four Seasons Natural Foods is now located. It was highly successful -- The New York Times called it "a landmark bakery" in a 1983 piece -- but they closed in 1985 to pursue full-time bread baking.

The Londons founded Rock Hill Bakehouse from their Greenwich farmhouse kitchen, soon becoming what London calls "pioneers in the crusty bread revolution." They eventually sold that business, but still run Rock Hill Consulting, licensing their recipes and techniques to bakeries throughout the nation.

The consulting business had risen into a sizable lump of dough by the mid-1990s, but London again began feeling that sense of disconnection he had felt in the academic world.

"We were running around the country, but we wanted to get back and serve our own community," he said. The Londons reopened their bakery in 1997, after Michael traveled to Paris to learn "the art of the French pastry" from chefs in the some of the finest patisseries.

"We actually have a more extensive repertoire than most Parisian patisseries, because we have other influences as well," Michael said. "We have Danishes, tiramisu, cannoli, even a very American type cookie called a tree-hugger."

He rehired Tim Hangarter, a pastry chef who had worked in the previous Mrs. London's and is now the lead baker. Hangarter said his recipe for success is pretty simple.

"We use great ingredients, make things the best we can, and are always trying to learn new things," he said. "I try to make things I'd like to eat myself."

Hangarter described London as "a warehouse of baking knowledge," although he seemed to be choosing his words carefully when asked what he thought of Saveur's choice of words for its cover.

"I'd say this is one of America's greatest bakeries, and Michael's a great baker," he said. "Whatever it is he's doing, he's consumed by it at the time."

Not surprisingly, London has yet another venture in the oven this year. He's planning to open a Mediterranean restaurant called Max -- with his son, Max London, as executive chef -- next door to the bakery. If all goes well, they could be open by track season, Michael said, and he's looking forward to being part of the action.

"I'll be sort of the maitre d', sommelier, schmoozer," he said. "I like hovering around the dining room, sort of getting in the way and meeting people."