Carissa's Bakery Opens in Sag Harbor in a Transformed Retail Space

That Carissa’s Bakery would be opening in the former Bagel Buoy at 3 Bay Street in Sag Harbor was hardly a secret. The signs on the boarded-up windows announced the fact.

But just when that would happen was up in the air after a renovation effort that went on for more than a year sought to transform the space into something that looks more like an art gallery than a former deli.

The bakery, which occupies the entire 1,660 square feet of the building’s ground floor, had a “soft” opening earlier this month.

The takeout market, which includes a coffee bar, a wide range of baked goods, from sourdough baguettes to croissants and pastries, takeout sandwiches, and an assortment of premium groceries, has been doing a brisk business, according to partner Lori Chemla, who joined forces with Carissa Waechter, the baker and entrepreneur who got her start selling bread at Amber Waves Farm and local farmers markets.

The Sag Harbor location joins Carissa’s two other locations. The bakery opened its first retail shop in a space at 68 Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village in 2017 before expanding to a full restaurant at 221 Pantigo Road, in the former Turtle Crossing location, in East Hampton in 2019.

“From the time we opened, there were lines out the door,” Chemla said of the first shop in East Hampton. “We didn’t expect the kind of community love that came to our door.”

Opening in Sag Harbor was a natural progression, said Waechter, who said she had always loved the village. “Sag Harbor is where a lot of our customers are from,” she added, noting that the business had a pop-up store in Goop on Bay Street last summer.

In Sag Harbor, Chemla said the pair wants to create a “warm and welcoming atmosphere for our customers.” That’s helped by the ovens producing bread and other savory delights.

Chemla and Waechter are rarely seen together, because while Waechter is up before dawn to oversee the baking, Chemla is working late on the business end of the operation.

“We both have a lot of creative energy in different sides of the business,” Chemla said. “That’s why our partnership and relationship works so well.”

This week, the bakery received an important, if informal, endorsement from the cookbook author and television personality Ina Garten, who, during an interview on “60 Minutes,” insisted on a stop at Carissa’s in East Hampton.

The Sag Harbor shop is tentatively open from Thursday through Monday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.