above: Devotees of Rob VanKeuren’s Flour Water Salt Bread bakery know that even though a slice of his crumb cake may be the size of a brick, it is soft, airy and absolutely delicious.
Photography by Venera Alexandrova & Garvin Burke
After working his way up the ladder from a clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to a trader, Rob VanKeuren was shocked when in 2012 he was suddenly laid off from the firm where he had worked for more than a decade. But the universe works in mysterious ways, and shortly after, VanKeuren was presented with an offer to travel to India with a close friend for some soul searching. The trip centered around yoga, creative writing and the mantra that “the lives we live are what write each of our stories.”
This opportunity to pause and reevaluate helped VanKeuren realize that the career path he had been on was not the right one. “I knew that I wanted to do something that brought me joy and also brought joy to other people, but I didn’t yet know what that was,” says VanKeuren. Recalling fond memories of his college days working in the bustling restaurant scene, VanKeuren began to wonder if it was he should trade in his career in finance for one in food.
BACK TO BASICS
Upon his return from India, VanKeuren walked into a local booksture and picked up a book about making bread. He made his first sourdough loaf that day and was surprised how good it turned out, and how calming the process was. “Baking let me feel like I could focus on something more than the anxiety that came from being out of work,” recalls VanKeuren. “I was able to get out of my thoughts and just say to myself, ‘this is what I’ll do today, and I’ll figure tomorrow out tomorrow.”
Completely self-taught, VanKeuren began selling his sourdough bread out of the little red carriage house in Silvermine where he was living, and it quickly began garnering interest from friends and neighbors looking to support him during a difficult time. He would post on Facebook when he was making bread and ask followers to comment if they wanted to place an order. “It all sounds so weird and archaic now, but it was a system that really worked at the time,” says VanKeuren.
THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
To keep up with his growing popularity, VanKeuren needed a bigger space to bake. He arranged to trade pizza-making shifts at Lombardi’s in Georgetown for access to their oven during off-hours. After his shift was over, he’d mix the dough, let it rise, shape it and then come back in the morning to bake it in the wood-fired pizza oven. That’s when the number of followers on his Facebook page began to skyrocket, and so did the orders.
In 2018, things came full-circle back in Silvermine, when VanKeuren connected with the incoming chef at the recently restored GrayBarns, who had first tasted VanKeuren’s bread while eating dinner at Jesup Hall in Westport. “He said that it was unlike any bread he’d ever eaten and that he had to put it on their menu,” recalls VanKeuren. “He also offered me space and time to bake in the GrayBarns kitchen during off hours and a place to sell my bread in the antique barn across the street.”
In November of the same year, VanKeuren opened his first standalone bakery, Flour, Water, Salt, Bread at 20 Grove Street in Darien. Launching the day before Thanksgiving brought an immediate boom: “We sold out in about an hour that day and that was when I knew that I needed to hire more people and quickly,” recalls VanKeuren.
Fast forward to 2025 and Flour, Water, Salt, Bread is serving more customers than ever with a bakery in Cos Cob and the newest location on East Avenue in New Cannan. VanKeuren has also expanded the menu to include much more than just delicious bread, with pastries, take-and-bake items, sandwiches and specialty honey, butter and jams.
KEEPING IT FRESH AND LOCAL
For VanKeuren, quality ingrediants are paramount. “All my ingredients are natural and things that can be easily pronounced. When you see sourdough breads in stores, there’s not really ever an official definition of what’s in the product; unless it’s being mixed and baked fresh every day it’s usually pretty adulterated,” says VanKeuren.
VanKeuren also believes in the value of the local bakery experience. “Our customers like that they have a connection with the people making their food and buying products with authenticity,” says VanKeuren. “That’s what has allowed us to be successful, we have 15 people on our team and every single one of them is food obsessed just like me. They are all so passionate and want to keep making our products better.”
VanKeuren resides in Darien with his wife and six-year-old son. When he’s not baking, he enjoys playing the guitar and making music with his wife, who sings and plays the piano. Pop into any of VanKeuren’s locations to taste his fresh fare for yourself or check out flourwatersaltbread.com to learn more about his menu and product offerings.