New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
State’s baker of the year expands to Westport kitchen
WESTPORT — In Italian, Fatto a Mano means “made by hand.”
Pierluigi Mazzella owns Fatto a Mano, an artisanal micro bakery in Monroe, where he handmakes sourdough, pastries and panettone. He’s taking his skills to Westport.
“I have so many beautiful things in my mind,” he said.
The kitchen he’s taking over at 971 Post Road East was home to Manna Toast and will be next to Pop Up Bagels.
Mazzella is from Ischia, Italy and has been baking since he was about 12 years old. While there, he went to a culinary high school and worked in the food industry, eventually moving to the U.S. in 2017 and working at bakeries in Darien and New Haven.
He said his wife kept telling him he was a good baker, so why not bake on his own at home?
Since starting his own business about a year ago, Mazzella has been baking from his home kitchen with a Connecticut cottage food operation license. In 2022, Mazzella won Baker of the Year from the Connecticut Restaurant Association while baking out of his home.
“That was a very incredible thing for me,” he said.
Mazzella sells his baked goods out of his Monroe house and at pop-up events and markets, such as the Westport Farmers Market every Thursday.
He said word spread around Monroe about his business and often a line is around his house and down the street of customers waiting to buy his baked goods.
Mazzella said his baked goods are made with fresh ingredients and can even help with digestion. His panettone, which is an Italian sweet bread typically eaten around the holidays, is prepared over three days using homemade candied fruits. He used to study under one of the best makers of panettone in the world to learn to make it.
He said people are used to seeing imported panettone, which he described as the “cheapest and lowest quality you can get.”
“It’s really hard, very dry,” Mazzella said, adding people can to tell the difference in his as soon as they taste his.
Mazzella makes a variety of panettone, such as the traditional with candied oranges and raisins, ones with Belgian chocolate and even special ones for Valentine’s Day, such as raspberry or triple chocolate with cherries.
He used to import all of his ingredients from Italy, but said he realized Connecticut is a source of fresh ingredients.
He said securing a kitchen space in Westport could lead to expansion.
Mazzella said the space will allow him to bake more, even producing daily breads and pastries that he can supply to other local businesses.
“The new project is going to be focused on supporting locals, farmers and little businesses like me,” he said.
He said he has already submitted the paperwork to the town to open the kitchen, but is awaiting approvals. If all goes well, he hopes to open before Easter.
One day, Mazzella said he would like to open up his own storefront, though this space doesn’t allow for it. For now, he will supply his products to local businesses, and potentially meet with people interested in purchasing it.
After he secured the property, Mazzella launched a Kickstarter campaign to help raise $25,000 for key equipment pieces. After a week, he reached 80 percent of his goal. He’s already raised enough money, though the campaign will be open for about another week.
Mazzella said he would also like to offer a baking class where he can teach people how to make baked goods from scratch.
“This is really what I love to do,” he said.