We were one of the first to discover Bread 41’s pastries and breads and got a behind-the-scenes look at the bakery before it became all the rage in Dublin.
We checked into the Trinity City Hotel in Dublin early Friday morning. As usual, we couldn’t wait to be out and about exploring Dublin. But first things first, we needed a good European breakfast. Luckily for us, just a few feet away from the Trinity City Hotel we stumbled across the newly opened Bread 41. Before you proceed, prepare yourself for a baker’s fairytale and story full of bread puns.
The scent of bread instantly attracted us to the bakery. You could smell it from down the street. As we approached, the smell of the bread washed over us like a gentle rain. As we opened the door, we were assaulted by a fresh, yeasty smell from the baked goods being made in the fire oven. We inhaled deeply, filling our lungs with it. Now, Ireland is not known for it’s fabulous baked goods. You think of France and Italy when you think of bakeries. But Bread 41 has broken the Irish mold and introduced the nation to one of the best bakeries I’ve visited to this very day.
The bakery was newly opened. It was December 4th, 2018 and the place had opened on September 2018. It was still fairly empty with just a few locals getting ready for the day. A fire-burning oven was at the center of it all. Layers and layers of pastries lay flat on a simple piece of parchment paper. The name of each baked good was written out on the parchment paper in a sharpie. Simple and not pretentious, I loved it already.
Pat and I ordered an almond croissant and a coffee. The almond croissant was still warm when we bit into it. The croissant was cut in half with a sweet nutty almond spread layered in between the croissant. The top was sprinkled with crunchy almonds and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. One bite of their pastries and I was bread-y for the day. It was dense and creamy, crunchy yet soft, fresh and flaky. We devoured it without a minute to waste. It was so good, we found ourselves pressing almond croissant crumbs into the pad of our index fingers and transferring them to our mouths! How could something be allowed to taste so good? And, as a surprise, in Dublin of all places? It was settled we would be back the next day for breakfast.
The next day we had the privilege of meeting the head baker and owner of Bread 41, Eoin Cluskey. He had a minute to spare so was able to take us on a short BTS (behind-the-scenes) tour of his bakery! He took us in the back, where all the magic happened. Eoin pulls out a loaf of bread from the fridge and explains to us that he believes bread should be made as it once was. Unlike other bread manufacturers who use CBP (Chorleywood Bread Process) which has over 34 unnecessary ingredients including unnecessary ones like L-ascorbic acid, chlorine dioxide gas, preservatives and more to make the bread quick and last longer, Eoin uses just three ingredients: flour, water and salt. Because of his old school method, the bread requires 19 to 22 hours to make unlike the typical supermarket loaf which is made in a couple of hours. Ever wonder if you were really gluten intolerant? Maybe the truth is your body just has a hard time digesting all the unnecessary elements most companies use to make bread, some of which derive from animal hair and feathers…gross! Try Eoin’s baked goods and pastries and I bet you, you won’t have any gluten issues.
To ensure quality, Eoin invested in a stone mill that he had imported all the way from Vermont, USA. He uses it to make his own white flour so he can make sure all the organic goodness of wholemeal flour is retained, unlike steel “roller” mills that remove all the healthy components of the grain. Eoin is one of the few bakers left in the world who ditches refined flour grains and makes his own. I now know why Bread 41 is one of the best pastries I’ve had in my life. It doesn’t get more old school and organic than this. Everything is made from scratch. Eoin learned how to bake in San Francisco..this made me think back to the second most amazing pastry I’ve had in my life, which was in San Francisco at Arsicault bakery! Maybe they used a similar method?
Pat and I thanks Eoin for our tour and headed back out into the bakery. We decided to have a Pain au Chocolat. We were heading towards Cliffs of Moher in the afternoon so wanted to take a pastry for the road. Eoin highly recommended two of his personal favorites and signature pastries for our road trip. We bought a warm-from-the-oven sausage roll wrapped in a flaky, buttery, pastry and a juicy, sweet delicious minced pie. I think the secret to his minced pie was that it was Christmas time and he might have cooked it with a hint of alcohol to sweeten the deal…but I may be wrong!
Who knew Ireland would have some of the best baked goods and pastries I’ve had to date? Dublin is a small city, so there are no excuses as to why you can’t stop by Bread 41, hop in line, and purchase one of his signature pastries. Bready or not, here you crumb!
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