Berkshire Bakery
Pre-order Saturday
Wood-fired bakery · Hudson Valley

Sourdough. Croissants.
One ingredient less in everything.

A small bakery in a converted barn, twenty minutes north of Hudson. We bake four mornings a week in a 1950s Llopis wood oven and sell what we make until it's gone — usually by 11:30 on Saturday.

Pre-order for Saturday Subscribe — $48/mo → Order Wednesday by 9pm · pickup Saturday 8–noon
312
Boules / Saturday
38 hr
Cold ferment
540°F
Oven floor at load
Editorial photograph of rustic artisan bread loaves with a crisp scored crust
Country boule · 980 g
7:14am · 6:18 ovens out
Editorial photograph of a spread of fresh flaky croissants and pastries
Editorial photograph of a cup of coffee and a small pastry on a cafe table
Editorial overhead photograph of a cappuccino with delicate latte art
In
NY Magazine · Best Of 2024 Hudson Valley Magazine Edible Hudson Valley Cherry Bombe · Issue 32 Saveur · The Bakery Issue The Hudson Independent NY Magazine · Best Of 2024 Hudson Valley Magazine Edible Hudson Valley Cherry Bombe · Issue 32 Saveur · The Bakery Issue The Hudson Independent
01 / The bakery

Fewer things, better.

Berkshire Bakery is a small wood-fired bakery in a 1908 dairy barn on County Route 7, twenty minutes north of Hudson. Lila Russo opened it in March 2022, after four years on the bench at Tartine in San Francisco and a year at Acme in Berkeley. The first month we sold 38 loaves a week. Now it's closer to 600.

Every dough is a 38-hour cold ferment, fed by a starter she carries from one bakery to the next. We mill 22% of our flour on a Mockmill in the back, from grain grown in Old Chatham. Salt, water, flour, time. We don't add anything we can leave out.

— Lila Russo Baker · owner
02 / This week's bake schedule

We bake four mornings.

Doughs are mixed two days before they're baked. The schedule rotates by season — this is the week of October 7 – 13. Pre-orders close Wednesday night.

Order window closes · Wed 9:00 pm
Closed
Mon · Oct 7

Rest day

Mill maintenance. Starter feed at 10am. Shop is closed.

Bake day · 1
Tue · Oct 8

Country & baguettes

  • Country sourdough$11
  • Baguette · trad$5
  • Rye levain · 1.2 kg$13
  • Sesame seeded boule$12
Out of oven · 11am
Shop closed
Wed · Oct 9

Doughs & mix

Croissant block, levain build, weekend mix. Order window closes 9pm.

Bake day · 2
Thu · Oct 10

Pastry morning

  • Pain au chocolat$4.50
  • Plain croissant$4
  • Almond croissant$5.50
  • Kouign-amann$5
Out of oven · 7:30am
Doughs · prep
Fri · Oct 11

Shape · proof

Country, miche, and rye shaped at 4pm. Babka and rolls laminated and rolled.

Big bake
Sat · Oct 12

The whole shop

  • Country sourdough$11
  • Miche · 2 kg$22
  • Chocolate babka$14
  • Cinnamon roll · 4 oz$5.50
  • Croissant · 8 styles$4–$6
Doors · 8:00 am · pickup until 12
Walk-in only
Sun · Oct 13

Pretzels & focaccia

  • Bavarian pretzel$5
  • Focaccia · half sheet$14
  • Pretzel buns · 4 pack$12
  • Honey-rye pan loaf$10
Doors · 9:00 am · until sold out

Bread8 items

  • Country sourdough · 980 g $11
  • Miche · 2 kg whole-wheat $22
  • Baguette tradition · 350 g $5
  • Rye levain · 1.2 kg $13
  • Sesame seeded boule $12
  • Honey-rye pan loaf $10
  • Focaccia · half sheet $14
  • Bavarian pretzel $5

Viennoiserie & sweets9 items

  • Plain croissant $4
  • Pain au chocolat $4.50
  • Almond croissant $5.50
  • Kouign-amann $5
  • Cinnamon roll · 4 oz $5.50
  • Chocolate babka $14
  • Cardamom morning bun $5
  • Brown-butter shortbread · 2 pack $6
  • Buckwheat & rye sablé · box of 6 $14
03 / How to order

Order Wednesday. Pick up Saturday.

Pre-orders guarantee what you want. We bake limited walk-in stock — usually sold out by 10:30am on Saturdays. No delivery; the bread doesn't travel well past three hours.

  • Place your order by Wednesday 9:00 pm Eastern.
  • Pickup window: Saturday 8:00am – 12:00pm.
  • Cancellation: free up to Tuesday noon · 50% after.
Your basket · pickup Sat Oct 12 · 9:00 am
Order window · closes in 1 day 14 hours
  • Country sourdough · 980 g
    Mixed Thu · proofed 38 hr · baked Sat 6:18am
    2
    $22.00
  • Pain au chocolat
    72 hr croissant dough · Valrhona Caraïbe 66%
    4
    $18.00
  • Chocolate babka · 600 g
    Brioche, dark cocoa, sugar crust. Saturday only.
    1
    $14.00
  • Cinnamon roll · 4 oz
    Saigon cinnamon, salted brown butter, cream-cheese glaze.
    2
    $11.00
Pickup time slots · Sat Oct 12
9 items · est. 4.2 lb of bread & pastry
Subtotal · $65.00 · tax $4.61 · total $69.61
Card not charged until Friday 5pm — adjustable until Tuesday noon
Editorial photograph of a relaxed brunch table spread with pastries and coffee
Editorial photograph of a tall stack of fluffy pancakes with syrup and berries
Editorial photograph of a single slice of layer cake on a small plate
Editorial photograph of a fresh fruit arrangement in a shallow ceramic bowl
04 / Bread CSA

Bread & one pastry. Every Saturday.

A weekly basket of one country loaf and one pastry chosen by the baker. $48 a month, four pickups, no signup fee. Pause any week with 72 hours' notice. Roughly 90 families subscribe; we cap at 120.

Half share
$28 / month
  • · 1 boule, every other Saturday
  • · No pastry
  • · 2 pauses / quarter
Most popular
Standard
$48 / month
  • · 1 boule + 1 pastry, weekly
  • · Free coffee at pickup
  • · 4 pauses / quarter
  • · First access to seasonal bakes
Whole table
$84 / month
  • · 1 boule + 1 baguette + 2 pastries
  • · Cookie box, first of month
  • · Unlimited pauses
Join the CSA → 26 of 120 spots open · waitlist runs Nov 1
05 / Inside the barn

The 4:30 am side of things.

@berkshire.bakery — Instagram →
Editorial interior photograph of a cozy specialty coffee shop with a wooden counter and plants
Editorial photograph of a brunch plate with poached eggs, avocado and toast
Editorial overhead flat-lay of fresh herbs and bowls of colorful spices
Editorial interior photograph of an intimate restaurant dining room with set tables and pendant lights
Editorial photograph of a glass of iced coffee with a swirl of milk and ice
Editorial interior photograph of a modern kitchen with a clean island and open shelving
Editorial photograph of a calm tea setup with a ceramic pot and a cup of tea
Editorial overhead photograph of a beautifully set dining table
Editorial interior photograph of a minimalist boutique retail space with open shelving
06 / The baker

Lila Russo.

Lila grew up in Pittsfield, MA, learning to bake from her grandmother — who folded butter into puff dough on a marble counter that's now in the bakery's window. She trained at Tartine in San Francisco for four years, then a year at Acme, before moving back east in 2021.

She bought the barn in Old Chatham at a county auction for $44,800 in 2021, then put six months and a small mortgage into the oven and the millroom. The bakery opened with a soft sale in March 2022 — 38 loaves. "My grandmother always said you should be able to count what's in the bread on one hand," she says. "So that's what we do."

2022
Opened
22%
Flour milled on-site
5
Ingredients · sourdough
07 / Who grows the wheat

Four farms within fifty miles.

82% local grain by weight

Wild Hive Farm

Clinton Corners, NY · 28 mi

Hard red winter wheat, spelt, einkorn. The base of every loaf since 2022.

Lakeview Organic Grain

Penn Yan, NY · 46 mi

Rye and emmer. We mill the rye in-house every Wednesday.

Hawthorne Valley

Ghent, NY · 12 mi

Biodynamic butter and cream — every croissant, every brioche.

Ronnybrook Farm Dairy

Pine Plains, NY · 18 mi

Whole milk for the brioche, crème fraîche for the babka.

08 / Before you order

Real questions, honest answers.

Can I walk in without pre-ordering? +

Yes — we hold back about 90 loaves and 8 dozen pastries for walk-ins on Saturdays. They're usually gone by 10:30am. Sunday walk-ins are a smaller bake — pretzels and focaccia, mostly.

How long does the bread keep? +

Country sourdough: 5 days at room temperature in a linen bag. Toast it after day 3. Miche: 7 days. Croissant: 24 hours. We don't pre-slice anything; ask at the counter and we will.

Do you ship? +

No. We tried in 2023 and we didn't like the bread when it got there. We'll happily hold your basket for next-day pickup if you can't make Saturday.

Anything gluten-free? +

No — it's one bakery with one oven and one ferment. We can't separate flour dust from the air. If you're sensitive but not celiac, the sourdough is often well-tolerated.

Why is the country loaf $11? +

38 hours of cold ferment, 22% on-site milled flour from Wild Hive, a wood-fired bake, and a 980g finished weight. We pay our team $24/hour, plus health insurance. It's bread; it's also four days of work.

09 / Visit

Old Chatham, New York.

418 County Route 7
Old Chatham, NY 12136
— the red barn, 1/4 mi past the bridge
+1 (518) 555 · 0904
[email protected]
Next bake · Thu Oct 10 · 7:30am
Pickup hours
MondayClosed
Tuesday11:00 – 2:00
WednesdayClosed
Thursday8:00 – 11:00
FridayClosed
Saturday8:00 – 12:00
Sunday9:00 – sold out
Most Saturdays sell out by 10:30. CSA holds are kept until 12:30.
Find us
Hudson, NY Berkshire Bakery 418 CR 7 → Berkshires
2h 18m from Manhattan · 20 min north of Hudson · 35 min south of Albany · Free parking on the lawn