Annarosa's Bakery in Newburyport!

[mrwhiskers]

This small commercial (no frills) bakery tucked into the back of a rather upscale strip mall might just be making the best bread and rolls in the area. We bought 20 sea salt and balsamic rolls the other day and they're all gone. Amazingly good. Also, terrific small pizzas, baggettes, and foccacia. No Boston bakery is coming close. Luckily this place is on the way to the beach. Anyone else been there?

[merrvally]

Ditto to all of the above...have posted many times with undying loyalty to this artisan bakery which, in my opinion, beats anything from Boston to Portland.

[mrwhiskers]

agreed. and there isn't a bakery in boston as good. not even close. now, why won't they open in boston? better yet, cambridge, right down the street from my house.

[autopi]

very interested in checking out annarosa--can anyone offer specific comparisons (e.g. to clear flour baguettes, croissants from canto 6, etc.)?

[mrwhiskers]

to my mind no comparison. annarosa's is a better bakery than anything here in boston, albeit with a limited selection. they seem to focus on a more rustic type of baking--baguettes, rolls, hand-crafted pizza, focaccia... and i say this while maintaining that a Clear Flour baguette is a damn fine thing.

[pastrytroll]

Annarosa's croissants are much better than at Canto 6 (which I thought was a bakery that uses quality ingredients - but only a big deal if you compare it to mass-market stuff, not if you bake at all at home), and better than Clearflour's croissants: Annarosa's are at the peak of a very high level of skill - better even than Delphin's were in Marblehead (sorry Delphin - maybe it's the flour!)
That said, I adore Clearflour's morning rolls and Paris Night bread and those lemon rolls.... plus I have a good friend who bakes baguettes there.

[three of us]

I was at the Tannery, last week. Saw the baking area but not the sales area. Is it across the hall where sandwiches and drinks are sold? Or was I just particularly out of it, that day?

[LindaWhit]

Their entrance is actually from the outside parking area, IIRC. I don't believe they have an entrance within the little mall. That sandwich/drink place is another storefront entirely.

[Infomaniac]

Yes....I'm there almost every Saturday morning.
I just suggested this place the other day too in a Breakfast in Newburyport thread.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/628578

[pastrytroll]

Annarosa's has been my gold standard for years! The owner is a master baker at the top of his game with an incredible passion for the detail that separates the very good from the transcendent- really. I know this is over the top hyperbole, but ... great's great: taste his croissants....... and if you get a chance, watch his face while he gets excited about the flour from a small farm he's now using for him. Annarosa's is artisan in all the best ways.

[LindaWhit]

I miss Annarosa's now that my company isn't located in Newburyport anymore. Loved having an office in the Tannery and walking over there to get some wonderful bread. Those sea salt/balsamic rolls sound heavenly!