Longtime Ogden bakery still working toward reopening after 2021 fire

By Mike Anderson, KSL-TV | Posted - April 15, 2025 at 11:32 a.m.

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

OGDEN — The ovens inside the 85-year-old Topper Bakery have fired up again after nearly four years, but not quite yet for the general public. The longtime family-owned business is finally supplying to many of its previous wholesale customers, mostly area restaurants.

"It makes me feel good. It really does," part-owner Valeen DeRyka said. "Nice to be doing something. Nice to be having some money come in."

DeRyka runs the bakery with her son and co-owner, Lance DeRyka, who has been spending a lot of his time restoring many of the 1939-era appliances that survived in a fire that burned about half of their building along Monroe Boulevard in August of 2021.

Fire damages Ogden's Topper Bakery in August 2021. Owners said Monday they are close to fully reopening. (Photo: Derek Petersen, KSL-TV)

"Hopefully with a little bit of money coming in, we can finish more of the equipment," Lance DeRyka said. "There's a lot of equipment still in storage that I haven't been able to refurbish yet."

Among the items he has been able to restore are a solid iron mixer, a dough sheeter and a donut frying station. Somewhat miraculously, the family heirloom, wooden cookie molds survived the fire, too.

An antique donut fryer is pictured in Topper Bakery in Ogden on Monday. The owners said they are nearly ready to fully reopen after a fire in 2021. (Photo: Mike Anderson, KSL-TV)

"We were worried about our boards that we make our speculoos cookies, Dutch cookies at Christmas time that his grandparent had brought from Holland," Valeen DeRyka said.

Dutch speculoos cookie molds are pictured on Monday at the Topper Bakery in Ogden. The owners say they are nearly ready to fully reopen following a fire in 2021. (Photo: Mike Anderson, KSL-TV)

Before being able to reopen to the general public, the DeRyka's said they'll need to continue to bring in some money from their wholesale customers, so they can restore their remaining equipment. If all goes as planned, they could start opening with limited hours sometime in July.

"We're looking forward to being able to serve the whole community and not just the businesses," Valeen DeRyka said. "It was our livelihood, our work. We loved doing it."

Meantime, people can follow Topper Bakery's Facebook page for further updates. When it is finally open, Valeen DeRyka said people passing by will be able to tell.

"When they see the big 'open' sign that we have (that) Lance put in the front window lit up, then we're open," she said.