Home > Brands > Bread Alone > Breads > Baguette

Bread Alone

Bread Alone

FOUNDED IN THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS IN 1983.

 
 

In 1983 Daniel Leader moved his family from NYC to the Catskill Mountains to bake organic bread on the hearth of a wood-fired brick oven. A chef by training, Dan learned to bake naturally-fermented, artisan bread touring bakeries in Paris. Dan wanted to bring this pure, honest craft to his home and community. 

Bread Alone is and has always been committed to a simple life and living grounded in nature, community, and simple and honest bread and foods. True to form, Bread Alone's first oven was built by Dan and friends in the community. Our first loaves were sold out the side door of the bakery, or out the trunk of the family station wagon.

 
 

OUR WOOD-FIRED BRICK OVENS.

By 1987 Bread Alone began to out-grow the original oven that launched the business. While on a research trip to Paris, Dan was introduced to a 4th generation Parisian oven mason, Andre Lefort.

Brokered by a charismatic friend and baker (and owner of French bakery Moulin de la Vierge), Basile Kamir, Andre agreed to travel to the US and construct two proper brick ovens to lead Bread Alone into the future.

The ovens were built on the earth outside of the original bakery, and then a building was constructed around them. We believe that these ovens have produced more wood-fired, organic bread than any other ovens in America, if not the world.

 
 

SHARON BURNS-LEADER: BREAD ALONE'S CO-OWNER

Around the time that Andre constructed Bread Alone's new wood-fired ovens, Sharon Burns-Leader joined Dan as Bread Alone's co-owner and baker. Sharon and Dan have now worked together for over 25 years, driven by a shared passion for creating simple, honest bread and foods.

Over the years Sharon has been Bread Alone's baker, accountant, general manager, pastry chef, chef, and more. Though the Bread Alone story starts with Dan, it doesn't go far without Sharon. 


NOW BAKING FOR TWO GENERATIONS

In 2012 Dan and Sharon welcomed Dan’s eldest son, Nels Leader, into the bakery. Dan, Sharon, and Nels then worked together to design and construct Bread Alone’s new artisan baking facility in Kingston, New York.

The new bakery represents the culmination of Dan and Sharon’s 60+ combined years as artisan bakers. It embraces the best in artisan baking thinking from around the world, combined with one of the most experienced baking teams in the United States.

32+ YEARS ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Bread Alone's main bakery in Kingston was under construction from Winter 2013 to Fall 2014. The bakery is designed without compromise to produce what we hope are some of the world’s finest organic loaves of bread.

The Bread Alone team remains ambitious and entrepreneurial. We continually look for ways to improve what we do and bake more organic loaves of bread for the world. 

As ever, our loaves of bread are baked and delivered fresh every day.

Display:

Types of Baguettes

A fun fact about baguettes is that there are three types of baguettes: 

  • regular baguette
  • the baguette moulée
  • baguette farinée

All three are similar in taste, but the key difference lies in the way they are baked. A regular baguette is your typical golden-brown French bread. This is the most common type you will find in bakeries. The baguette moulée translates to "molded bread" and is manufactured by industrial ovens. And the baguette farinée has its crust covered with flour before baking. One of the great features of a baguette is that, when baked right, no knife is needed. Simply tear the bread apart with your hands. Making for a fun eating experience.

And did you know that the shape of the baguette comes from bakers not wanting to get up early? To keep from overworking, the French government passes a law in 1920 that forbid bakers to start their shifts before 4 am or from working past 10 pm. This meant that bakers had to get creative since bread takes time to bake. The long, thin shape of the loaf exposes as much of the dough to heat as possible, which means it will bake faster in the over. This way, the bakery can pump out the same number of loaves and do so in less time.