Visiting Poilâne is like experiencing a piece of history, back when bread was tasty, healthy and nutritious, artists would barter artworks of bread for bread, and everything was manufactured by artisans and made with wood fire.
Today, Apollonia Poilâne runs the bakery, which was started by her grandfather in 1932, and is still famed for its chewy sourdough. The wood-fired ovens run like they always have, and works from the art collection are on display, except now, Poilâne is a world-wide business thanks to a 24-hour shipping service and 5 stores in Paris and London. Its savoir faire reaches far beyond Saint-Germain-des-Prés!
And let’s not forget how Apollonia’s father Lionel made a full set of furniture out of bread for Salvador Dali. An iteration of the chandelier is still on display in the Cherche-Midi bakery, where we stopped by last time, we were in Paris to peek behind the scenes – and taste their famed bread.
