Irwin's History
Irwin’s Neighborhood Bakery and Cafe opened its doors 12 years ago, occupying the same space that's been a family-owned business serving the Wallingford neighborhood since 1927. Originally Irwin’s Grocery and Market, the Irwin’s legacy continued with the great-granddaughter of the original Irwin, Pastry Chef Shannon Mattila, who opened Irwin’s as a Bakery and Cafe in 1997 and was the creative force behind the pastry recipes still used today at Irwin’s.
Baker/Entrepreneur Linda Fecher bought Irwin’s from Shannon Mattila in 2006. Irwin’s had become Linda’s family’s local coffee shop, and here Linda became friends with Shannon, eventually becoming involved with the running of the business. When Linda heard that Shannon was considering selling the Bakery/Cafe, she jumped at the chance. “My heart started fluttering” Linda described her feelings on purchasing Irwin’s, “I’d been a home baker for over 20 years and loved it and was already the bookkeeper for the business…I just knew it was a perfect fit as baking and providing hospitality had always been what I loved doing best.”
When Linda took the reigns at Irwin’s, she found great recipes and happy customers so decided not to reinvent the wheel. Shannon trained Linda to bake the same beautiful pastries that had made Irwin’s a success to start with, and Linda keeps to those tried and true recipes, training each baker as she was trained. That said, Linda and her crew have added many new recipes and a full lunch menu to keep things fresh and lively.
Consistency of high quality is the most important thing to Linda and her staff at Irwin’s, and last time I was there I overheard a customer asking the girl behind the pastry counter, “Who makes this stuff for you?” Linda and her devoted crew of bakers do, fresh, every single morning. - SW