What’s on the menu at Brodflour, a new bakery in Liberty Village that mills its own flours
More on Bread
Name: Brodflour
Contact: 8 Pardee Ave., 647-719-2733, brodflour.com, @brodflour
Neighbourhood: Liberty Village
Previously: The Roastery
Owners: Dara Gallinger and Ronnen Harary
Baker: Robin Edberg
The food
Bread. And flour. Just like the name says. Dara Gallinger had worked her way up the Sobey’s marketing food chain, but then she met Ronnen Harary, the CEO of Toronto toy company Spin Master. A short while later, the two were hatching a bread-y business plans. Gallinger began checking out bakeries around the world, starting in California (Tartine) and then London (E5 Bakehouse). After that, she baked bread on the volcanic rocks of Iceland before ending up in Scandinavia. When she landed in Stockholm, she reached out to famed baker Robin Edberg, who’s been integral in developing the recipes for Brodflour.
Gallinger knew that before she even looked at leases or ovens, she needed to get the flour right. “The industrial revolution has removed everything exciting from bread,” says Gallinger, who is infatuated with fresh-milled flour, even though it makes her life harder. Every day, one in ten loaves doesn’t rise properly, but that’s part of the delight in baking with fresh flour: it’s a living thing. “We need to reposition the category—flour should be in the produce section of the grocery store in a fridge,” says Gallinger.
The drinks
Matt Faust (Fahrenheit) is in charge of Brodflour’s coffee program. He’s sourcing beans from Calgary’s Monogram Roastery and making all the espresso hits: flat whites, cortados, cappuccinos, and drip, too. Customers can choose from a selection of beans to suit their tastes. Guatemalan is sure to please, but West Coast coffee snobs might prefer the fruity acidity of the Ethiopian. “The idea is for the coffee to be like the bread: great on its own, so it doesn’t need things like milk or sugar,” says Faust. For those who do like sweet milky things, the Brod Latte, made with cardamom and oat milk is particularly delicious—especially when paired with a cardamom knot.
The space
The space, designed by Studio Markanda in collaboration with Raelen Storey, celebrates the hygge aesthetic: it’s cozy, light-filled and very Scandinavian (blue, white, and blonde wood). Windows look into the kitchen and mill areas, as there is an emphasis on being as transparent as possible. “We went anti-digital every way we could,” says Galliger, who doesn’t give out WiFi passwords (to encourage conversations instead of web use).
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Name: Brodflour
Contact: 8 Pardee Ave., 647-719-2733, brodflour.com, @brodflour
Neighbourhood: Liberty Village
Previously: The Roastery
Owners: Dara Gallinger and Ronnen Harary
Baker: Robin Edberg
The food
Bread. And flour. Just like the name says. Dara Gallinger had worked her way up the Sobey’s marketing food chain, but then she met Ronnen Harary, the CEO of Toronto toy company Spin Master. A short while later, the two were hatching a bread-y business plans. Gallinger began checking out bakeries around the world, starting in California (Tartine) and then London (E5 Bakehouse). After that, she baked bread on the volcanic rocks of Iceland before ending up in Scandinavia. When she landed in Stockholm, she reached out to famed baker Robin Edberg, who’s been integral in developing the recipes for Brodflour.
Gallinger knew that before she even looked at leases or ovens, she needed to get the flour right. “The industrial revolution has removed everything exciting from bread,” says Gallinger, who is infatuated with fresh-milled flour, even though it makes her life harder. Every day, one in ten loaves doesn’t rise properly, but that’s part of the delight in baking with fresh flour: it’s a living thing. “We need to reposition the category—flour should be in the produce section of the grocery store in a fridge,” says Gallinger.
[caption id="attachment_479152" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] Gallinger shows how freshly milled flour clumps like clay. “It is still intact. It feels alive, unlike the sterile shelf-stable stuff.”[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479151" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] They also sell fresh flour. It’ll keep for a few weeks in the fridge, but at Brodflour they use flour within 24 hours of milling.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479162" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] There’s an emphasis on using heritage grains grown with minimal intervention. That means there are no GMOs, and everything here is organic. Currently, Brodflour is using Ontario rye, spelt, emmer and red fife, and will soon get a hard red wheat from the Prairies.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479163" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] Order a slice of sourdough slathered in butter and jam, and the bread base will be at least 1.5 inches tall. $6.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479160" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] The Ricotta and Jam on sunflower rye uses the same jam as the toast above: a Saskatoon berry preserve made in northern Ontario. $13.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479147" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] The Bun and Cheese is a simple stack: lots of cheese (in this case, Baby Julius, a four-month old gouda-style cheese from Holland), butter and cucumbers. $10.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479158" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] A smoked salmon sandwich made with lox from the Smoke Bloke comes with cream cheese, capers onions and tomatoes. $15.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479204" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] Light and fluffy cardamom knots are made from red fife. $4.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479205" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] Gallinger, assembling the smoked salmon sandwich.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_479153" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] There are nine different loaves currently on offer.[/caption]
The drinks
Matt Faust (Fahrenheit) is in charge of Brodflour's coffee program. He’s sourcing beans from Calgary’s Monogram Roastery and making all the espresso hits: flat whites, cortados, cappuccinos, and drip, too. Customers can choose from a selection of beans to suit their tastes. Guatemalan is sure to please, but West Coast coffee snobs might prefer the fruity acidity of the Ethiopian. “The idea is for the coffee to be like the bread: great on its own, so it doesn’t need things like milk or sugar,” says Faust. For those who do like sweet milky things, the Brod Latte, made with cardamom and oat milk is particularly delicious—especially when paired with a cardamom knot.
[caption id="attachment_479149" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] A cortado is pictured here with a sourdough-rye brownie made with chocolate from Soul Chocolate. $5.[/caption]
The space
The space, designed by Studio Markanda in collaboration with Raelen Storey, celebrates the hygge aesthetic: it’s cozy, light-filled and very Scandinavian (blue, white, and blonde wood). Windows look into the kitchen and mill areas, as there is an emphasis on being as transparent as possible. “We went anti-digital every way we could,” says Galliger, who doesn’t give out WiFi passwords (to encourage conversations instead of web use).
[caption id="attachment_479156" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] The mill is plainly visible through a window at the back of the room. The hand-made machine created by Vermont-based New American Stone Mills uses two large granite stones to crush the grains into flour.[/caption]
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