Organic Bread Bar

Bread is one of the things that I find very hard to resist. The homely smell of the browning crust and the crack and crackle of the knife sawing through it to the soft interior. There are few better things in life than cutting into a warm loaf and slathering it with a salty creamy butter. This is exactly what I did on Monday after discovering The Organic Bread Bar on South Dowling Street  in Paddington, Sydney.

Andreas Rost the Master Baker and owner of this little bakery, was there kneading the wholemeal dough while I was talking to him. It is an unusual Bakery, walk in the door and there you are inside the bakery with the bakers. It feels a little strange at first, you are not quite sure whether you should be there staring,  you cant help it if you are at all curious about bread making. Andreas is a gentle charming man, and you soon find that you are questioning him………and being very nosey ( was this only me?) After travelling back home to Germany he returned in 2007, hoping to found his own Bakery, it took him 3 years to find the space and during this time he worked in Organic bakeries in Sydney.  He grew up on a farm where his Mother made everything they ate including bread every day. At 15 he was a very good bread maker.  Every day he makes a little more bread then worries that he will have too much left over and every day he sells it all. He has now been open for 6 months.

The surroundings are simple , cause it is all about the bread. He is visibly chuffed with his little space with the gleaming deck oven and BIG mixer, brought from Stuttgart. He says that this old girlie makes a beautiful dough as it mixes at a slow even speed, and he even turns her on to show me. As the big old engine rumbles to a start and the dough hook winds around the  bowl he stands there looking down smiling at it. 

The secret of good bread he says is not only technique but also the quality and taste of the flour used. He buys nutty tasting organic flour.  When he has a chance to have a day off he will start to think about sparking up the wood fired oven. This will be one of the first true woodfired bakeries in Sydney.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of his work, along with his two fledgling bakers , who he says excell in there own ways at different things. The coffee is good ( and organic). There are lovely teas, filled sandwiches, spelt scones and flavoured foccacia. Try the pretzels, chocolate biscuits or cupcakes or have a perfect hot cross bun for Easter.

The Organic Bread Bar

356 South Dowling Street, 2021 Paddington, Phone 02 9357 4448, info@organicbreadbar.com.au

www.organicbreadbar.com.au