Opening day

The night before

We had planned to sleep, and nobody did. The second oven had arrived that afternoon, the flour was stacked in the hall, and the shelves were still wet with paint when the first dough went into the proving cabinet at midnight.

What we baked

Forty country loaves, sixty croissants and a tray of cinnamon buns that we had not planned at all. The queue started at half past five, and by nine there was nothing left but crumbs and a very tired team.

We still bake the same country loaf every morning, from the same starter, in the same oven. The cinnamon buns became a Saturday tradition that we have never dared to stop.