Vegas to find Bergin Co. a welcome treat

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001 | 8:23 a.m.

The local bakery scene recently got an enormous lift when longtime Spago pastry chef Mary Bergin opened Bergin Baking Co. & Cafe, her West Sahara Avenue bakery and cafe. Bergin broke away from mentor and employer Wolfgang Puck after nearly 20 years in his restaurants.

Start-ups are never easy. In fact, Bergin has quite a story to tell.

What you first notice upon entering the business is a pastry and bread case stocked with Bergin's deliciously homey creations. These include individually sized gingerbreads, caramelized lemon tarts and blueberry muffins that are among the best in the city.

Fans of peanut butter will swoon over the dense peanut-butter bars, which are wonderful (though caloric) pick-me-ups. Those who prefer savory-style pastries may wish to try her exemplary spinach and Gruyere quiche, or the buttery, cipollini onion tarts.

Behind the pastry counter is a bread shelf, where Bergin is selling a variety of foccaccia breads with toppings such as red pepper and onion or roasted garlic, and loaves of bread such as her signature buttermilk loaf. Her roasted garlic bread sticks are positively addictive. Bergin makes more than a half-dozen different breads daily.

This is also a cafe. Just past the pastry cases is a cute room with sun-colored walls and purple chairs, the same chairs that once sat on the patio of the original Spago in West Hollywood, Calif. Bergin also procured original plates and cups from the old Spago when Puck closed it this year.

Additionally, the room sports a sunflower painting, and a hand-painted fairy hovering over the hallway that leads to the restrooms.

She also put in an 11-seat, J-shaped counter, which was inspired by the soda fountains at Woolworth's that she remembered from her childhood. The stools are a bit low, however.

"Being short," she laughs, "I can't stand to have my feet dangling from a high stool as if I were still a small child."

The cafe serves a full breakfast menu, and a small lunch menu as well. Coffee is from the Whole Bean, and is served in French press pots.

The breakfast items showcase Bergin's vivid imagination. You don't come for bacon and eggs, but rather for such fare as a full Irish oatmeal and scone breakfast, Italian frittata, huevos rancheros made with a homemade red and green chili stew, and Mary's nontraditional matzo brei (which no Yiddish grandmother would recognize, thanks to components such as wild mushrooms and fresh herbs).

Lunches include homemade soups and sandwiches such as roast beef with freshly grated horseradish on an onion Kaiser roll, and turkey and Swiss with homemade mayo on a roasted garlic and herb bun.

There is also a full line of Chinese teas which are brewed to order. Sometime down the road, Bergin intends to offer afternoon tea service.

The road to Bergin's opening was long and twisty. Bergin had studied to be a teacher, but in 1982 -- when Puck opened Spago in West Hollywood -- she was hired to be an assistant to renowned Pastry Chef Nancy Silverton, and never looked back. In 1987 Bergin was appointed head pastry chef at Spago, and began putting her own rustic imprimatur on the pastries there.

Her big break came soon after, when she was given the opportunity to create a dessert for the Girl Scouts of America, which led to an appearance on the Los Angeles-area's "Home Show" hosted by Gary Collins, and a book deal.

In 1991 she did the "Spago Desserts Cook Book" with Judy Gethers, which led to more TV appearances and more success.

She actually hadn't, at that point, even thought about living in Las Vegas, but that same year, she brought her kids to Las Vegas for a weekend getaway. Staring out at the Strip from the balcony of the Flamingo Las Vegas, her son said, "Mommy, this is where I want to live." And magically, the opportunity came soon after.

Her boss, Puck, had Spago Las Vegas in the works, and so she approached him. Initially, Puck was negative. "You don't wanna live there," he told her. But just two days later, he changed his mind and gave her the job as head pastry chef at his newest venture.

Las Vegas is where, in Bergin's words, "I really came into my own." The first two years were hard, because she felt she was stagnating. When she complained to the irrepressible Puck, he told her "you have to be your own inspiration."

That's when she began creating, changing the ladyfingers in her classic tiramisu to chocolate chiffon cake fingers, designing cookies and making desserts similar to her fine almond butter crunch tart, which turned out to be a huge hit.

"Here," she says, "I had a lot more freedom to create, and I decided to make desserts like the ones I enjoy at home, not standard restaurant stuff."

But two years ago, Bergin had had enough, and she told Puck that she wanted to leave, to move to Oregon and open her own bakery. Puck gave her his blessing, but with a caveat. "Why go to Oregon," he asked her, "where you don't know anybody, and nobody knows you?"

He advised her to stay in town, where she had built a local following, and make a success of it.

After almost a year of planning, Bergin opened her doors Oct. 25. She's slowly adding additional pastries, breads and more lunch items daily, and has been quite busy from the outset. This is not an inexpensive bakery, because she uses only top-notch ingredients.

But some of the initially high prices are coming down, as Bergin finds her target audience and price points. The chef has big plans, too, providing she makes a splash with this her first venture. If all goes well there will be cooking classes, a larger menu and more locations. It looks like a good bet.