There’s a new bakery in town, and they have one mission: Dear Grain wants consumers to love gluten again.
“Bread has built a bit of a bad rap in modern times – it has been seen as empty calories, lacking in nutrition, or simply a vehicle for other foods,” says Nicole Park, Dear Grain’s brand manager. “If you think about it, people have been coming together to break bread for centuries. And it once held a place at the centre of the table. So for us, bread is intrinsically linked to the feelings of community, nourishment and connection.”
The newest Ossington Avenue eatery, founded by head baker Adri Greenspan, recently found its home in the city’s west end and opened its doors on Nov. 18. The sourdough baking company offers ready-made sandwiches, loaves of sourdough bread in a variety of flavours, pastries, and condiments like jams, olive oils, and honey that pair perfectly with bread.
After expanding from its original Hamilton outpost, for Greenspan and his bakery, it’s the first foray into a big city.
“Dear Grain was actually born in the back kitchen of Detour Cafe in Dundas, Ontario. We started selling our bread there and grew sort of a cult following – the demand started to outpace our production capabilities,” says Park. “So we moved to Hamilton and opened up a production facility at the start of this year. This allowed us to increase the amount of bread we could bake and expand our e-comm and retail capacity.”
And, of course, the Ossington space marks the second expansion this year.
“Coming from smaller cities in Ontario, we were really motivated to find a neighbourhood with a strong sense of community and love for food,” says Park. “For us, Ossington was an obvious choice because it houses so many local heavy hitters in both food and culture. We feel really lucky to now be a part of it!”
While working as a private chef for a family, Greenspan started making breads inspired by Chad Robinson from Tartine. The bread was so well received by the family and friends, and friends of friends that the idea of a bakery was born. While he had experience baking bread, it was sourdough specifically that he connected with, and it is now the root of the entire menu at Dear Grain. Naturally, choosing to focus on sourdough means that the recipe itself must be fine-tuned and unique in order to attract eaters.
“Our sourdough bread is a labour of love. We combine a slow fermentation process (12 to 36 hours) with high levels of hydration (over 83 per cent) to produce nourishing loaves that are scrumptious and ultra-digestible,” Park says. “We also pride ourselves on our use of organic and heirloom grains to uphold great quality and taste.” The two highest benefits of their high-hydration technique are a longer shelf life–their recipe enables bread to have a shelf life that is three to five days longer than average–and easier digestibility, which makes for a lighter, more enjoyable flavor.
One of the main attacks against bread, Dear Grain acknowledges, is the gluten content. So, to accommodate intolerances and allergies, Greenspan has come up with a solution: the Cocoa Sesame Loaf, which is served with whipped tahini butter and honey.
“Although the rest of our menu is quite gluten-filled, we do encourage those with a non-critical gluten sensitivity to try our sourdough,” Park says. “Starches and gluten start to break down during the slow fermentation process, making the bread easier to digest and more tolerant for individuals sensitive to gluten – we’ve had plenty of customers reach out, amazed that our bread doesn’t cause a reaction.”
Dear Grain is located at 48 Ossington Avenue, and is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Wednesday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends. The bakery is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.