South Norwalk baker shares his delicious trade secrets

A man sipped coffee at a counter, while women at a nearby table lingered over plates filled with crumbs, evidence of the goodies that had since disappeared.

It was relatively quiet on a recent morning at SoNo Baking Company and Cafe in Norwalk. At 9:30 a.m., it is well past the rush of commuters and early morning risers.

This gave a visitor plenty of time to linger over a display case filled with treats and sweets, such as slices of opera cake, lemon meringue tarts, red velvet mini cupcakes, monkey bread, croissants, pain au chocolat, sticky buns and others.

They are all made in the kitchen beyond the front counter, where workers could be seen through large display windows filling small tart shells with dough and forming loaves of bread.

And now, they can be made in kitchens across the country.

"I was always a big cookbook collector and I always thought it would be great to have my own cookbook one day," said chef John Barricelli, owner of the SoNo Baking Company and Cafe, located on S. Water Street. "But I wasn't sure how it would work out."

The picture in his mind has become a nearly 300-page cookbook, "The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Occasion" (Clarkson Potter, $35). It features nearly 150 recipes for such items as cookies, crisps, pies, trifles, puddings, cakes, savory tarts and others.

"It is a cross between what is complex about SoNo Bakery and the easy stuff," he said of his first cookbook. "It also is true to form. It is not like we did something for the book and do something else for the store."

He did not hold back on any trade secrets. There are tips and techniques on how to create bakery-quality products, as well as some of the lessons he learned throughout his 30-year culinary career. It was written with the home baker in mind, he said, from the novice to the more advanced, with easy-to-follow directions. It also includes tips on purchasing ingredients, using proper equipment and storing the final product.

Barricelli opened the bakery in 2005. It is housed in a brick building that was once a ceramics factory. Items are still molded and glazed there, but with decidedly sweeter materials and for a much shorter shelf life.

Barricelli, who lives in Fairfield with his wife and children, comes from a long line of Italian bakers and cooks. The book contains at least one recipe adapted from a handwritten cookbook of his great-grandfather, Guiseppe Barricelli, who immigrated to the U.S. from Nola, Italy, and opened a panetteria -- pizzas and desserts -- in Brooklyn in the early 1900s.

Before he ever entered culinary school, Barricelli was learning the basics from members of his extended family. After his mother died when he was 9, Barricelli began helping his father in the kitchen of his Valley Stream, Long Island, N.Y., home. The second pair of hands was a huge help, considering there were seven other mouths to feed -- Barricelli is one of eight sons.

Only six years later, Barricelli's father died, and the 17-year-old completely took over the cooking duties for his family. In 1978, at 18, he graduated Valley Stream Central High School, and soon began working as an apprentice at Brooklyn's River Cafe. He took that experience and enrolled with the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., from which he graduated in 1980.

Not long after graduation, he was working in the pastry department at the then-named Helmsley Palace hotel in New York City. Within six months, he was running the department. He would take that experience and expand upon it, continuing his studies and working as a pastry chef in various hotels and restaurants, including Le Bernardin in New York City. By 1986, he was running two bakeries, Encore Patisserie in Manhattan and Cousin John's Cafe in Brooklyn, the latter of which is now owned by his cousin.

In 1996, he made another move to work as executive pastry chef at the Elms Restaurant and Tavern in Ridgefield with his CIA classmate executive chef Brendan Walsh. It was there he met Martha Stewart, founder of media and merchandising company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, when she came to do a story for her magazine. After the work was done, she got a chance to sample some of his desserts and ice creams.

"We lured John away from the restaurant world and he helped me to create one of the best television prep kitchens," Stewart wrote in the cookbook's foreword. "He managed, he cooked and he baked."

He is a contributor to many of Stewart's productions, including serving as host of "Everyday Food" on PBS and appearing on "The Martha Stewart Show."

Barricelli's studies and his career have taken him many places. He has worked with many leading chefs, and even a pop star. Well, not quite.

Barricelli created his SoNo Chocolate Ganache Cake recipe while working at the Commissary in New York City in the early 1980s, during the same time Madonna worked as a coat-check girl, according to the recipe's introduction.

Barricelli laughed when asked about the reference. "She was quite a character."

By the time Barricelli is answering a reporter's questions, he has already been working for some time. The bakery opens early in the morning to ensure a fresh batch of baked goods for its 7 a.m. opening. Fourteen, 15 hour days are not uncommon. And throughout the growing season, one can expect to see Barricelli or another member of his staff selling baked goods at farmers markets across Fairfield County.

But such a schedule has its sweet rewards.

"I never wanted to be a wholesale baker," he said, noting he values the interaction with customers too much. "I just love it."

Chef John Barricelli is scheduled to appear at several book signings for his new cookbook. He will visit the Norwalk Public Library, 1 Belden Ave., at 6 p.m. Monday. Visit www.norwalklib.org or call 203-899-2780.

He is set to speak at the Darien Library's Spring Author Series at 7 p.m. on March 25. Books will be available for purchase. The Library is located at 1441 Post Road, Darien. Visit darienlibrary.org or call 203-655-1234.