loaf – the story of a perfect bread

Hola Bloggies:

Now we all know that I believe in leading a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of exercise and good eats. But I also believe in moderation and balance. Which means that most of the time I’ll eat like a saint – but once in a while I’ll indulge.

Bread is one of the things I love most in life! When I lived in Paris I would buy an oven fresh baguette on the walk home from classes. More often than not it would be gone by the time I got back to my room. Ahhhh . . . bread how I love thee! Especially when you are made from whole grains and locally sourced ingredients.

This past winter I found myself in the small Rocky Mountain town of Fernie, British Columbia. Fernie is a gorgeous place well known for it’s spectacular scenery, fantastic skiing, and white water rafting in the summer. It’s also a town with a tremendous amount of character (their courthouse is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen) and wonderful places to eat. Frankly, despite it’s very small size I could totally picture myself living in Fernie.

On this particular occasion a friend took me out to lunch at a bakery that had just opened up – that place was loaf. And boy was I ever glad to have discovered this place! As soon as you walked in you could tell it was one of those places that are run with love. Phil and Claire Gadd, the proprietors of this jewel, have done an outstanding job.

During lunchtime the place was absolutely packed to the gills – this despite the fact that they had yet to have their official grand opening! Since I was with someone I knew through work I didn’t take pictures of my lunch – but I can tell you that we were served these wonderful thin crust pizzas (freshly made!), I had tea, and my friend had a fantastic looking soup.

I was impressed with the fantastic quality of the food and the entire cafe in general. It’s rustic air was perfect for it’s location high in the Rocky Mountains. I’ll confess I just about swooned when I noticed small details like the hand made pottery accents throughout! I was in some kind of foodie heaven! And so after I finished my work day I returned shortly before closing and took these pictures.

I love what loaf stands for – back to basics bread making. Pure ingredients. Hand made. Locally sourced. Real Food.

Here is how loaf describes their bread philosophy on their website:

What is real, honest bread? Well, we start with flour and we add water, a touch of sea salt, a little yeast and olive oil. That’s it. Our all-natural bread is hand crafted using traditional methods – its not hurried along and it doesn’t have “improvers”, “enhancers” or any other additives. Except when we fancy throwing in some herbs, nuts, seeds or other tasty stuff. We know this back-to-basics baking makes our bread, cakes and pastries better for you, and more delicious too.

 

I love it! Needless, to say it was all I could do to stop myself from buying one of everything in the store. I did however buy a couple of things in the name of taste tasting for the blog (ha!).

The Fiancé and I split the scone. Paired with coffee it made a wonderful afternoon snack! It was moist, very large, and topped with a good amount of sliced almonds. The quality of the bread was absolutely noticeable! Your average supermarket or coffee place scone couldn’t come close to matching this one in texture, taste, or quality.

And then there was the apricot fruit and nut loaf. WOW! I expected it to have a little fruit and nuts at most but once I cut it open I was delighted to discover that it was chock full of them! I loved every single bite of this loaf. It was dense, slightly sweet, and quite filling. It made for some wonderful breakfasts!

To say that loaf impressed me would be a massive understatement. I absolutely loved it!!!

I’ve lived in Europe. I know what a good bakery looks like. And this place can rival the best that Europe has to offer. If you’re ever in the Fernie area (right near the British Columbia – Alberta border in the Rockies) do stop by loaf. And even if you happen to be just passing by, it’s more than worth a detour!

But until then, you can find loaf on facebook, twitter, their wonderful blog, or on their website!

 

 

Do you have a favourite bakery? What makes you love it so? Have you ever been to the Canadian Rockies? Ever been to Fernie?