Automne Showers Bread, Viennoiseries on Petite Patrie Today

The anticipated new neighbourhood bakery from chef-baker duo Seth Gabrielse and Julien Roy threw its doors open on the corner of Beaubien and Christoph-Colomb this morning.

There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding it — Roy used to turn bread out at well-liked Villeray spot Le Pain Dans Les Voiles just nearby and could arguably claim to be the city’s top baker, having taken out the top prize for apprentice bakers at the 2013 edition of France’s prestigious Mondial du Pain competition. From his work at the SAT’s FoodLab, Gabrielse adds ample culinary skills to the mix, and they’re joined by baker Marc-André Cyr, formerly of Olive & Gourmando.

As Eater previously reported, Automne won’t be a straight-up French bakery — while Roy’s experience in that field will certainly play in, the bread on offer looks both to the west coast (think San Francisco and sourdough) and Nordic and northern European flavours, a taste zone with which Gabrielse has prior experience.

That northern influence is already on display on day one — one of Automne’s sweeter offerings mixes speculaas cookies (a Dutch spiced cookie) with vanilla cookies in checkerboard style, pictured below. It’s also right in time for Eater’s Sweets Week, too.

But sweet baked goods aren’t necessarily their main focus — it’s a boulangerie, not a patisserie. Many other offerings keep things simple — baguettes, rye, croissants — with pure locally-sourced flour and without the myriad of extra ingredients thrown in at big commercial establishments. They’ll also do afternoon bakes so you can pick up fresh bread after work.

STATUS — Automne Boulangerie is open as of 7 a.m. on Monday October 24, at 6500 Christoph-Colomb Avenue (corner of Beaubien).

• Award-Winning Baker to Bring Bread and More Bread to Rosemont [EMTL]
• Yurt Alert: Nordic Makeover for SAT FoodLab [EMTL]
• Eater’s Sweets Week Starts Right Now [EMTL]