Le Fournil: A family affair on Victoria Avenue

She’s talking about how she and her sisters came to own Le Fournil, the artisanal bakery at 364 Victoria Avenue. Rows of square cakes sit in the storefront window, pies and tortieres and quiches are on display under a counter, and loaves of sourdough and whole wheat bread fill baskets on high chairs. In the extensive kitchens at the back of the bakery, Tawn’s sister Robyn is making more bread and cakes. A third sister, Chelsea, who specialises in decorated cakes and specialty foods, is on maternity leave. Activity at Le Fournil doesn’t seem to have slowed down any without her. “We bought the bakery four years ago,” Tawn says. “My brother told us there was a cute little place up for sale.” The three sisters were looking for an opportunity to work as a group, Tawn explains; they wanted to build something together, and Robyn had experience as a chef. “I guess I had the business experience,” says Tawn. “I like to try new things. I’m a risk-taker.” The three sisters bought the bakery, and set to work at once remaking it to fit their vision of what it could be. “In every department we expanded as much as we could,” she says. “We knew when we came here we had the potential for something amazing.”

Their family ties helped shape the direction the store would take. “We were three young Jewish girls,” she recalls, “and we really loved doing traditional Jewish foods, and baking for the holidays.” They worked with their grandmother’s recipes — “She was such a huge figure in all of our lives,” remembers Tawn — and started selling traditional dishes. This soon paid off for the sisters; their challahs drew a rave review from the Globe and Mail.

The sisters feel it’s important not to rest on their laurels, though. “We’re always evolving,” says Tawn. “We do catering for all different occasions and do parties, baby showers, bridal showers, brunches. We work a million hours a week.” They’re constantly adding new foods to their repertoire, from Christmas roasts to lasagne. “We listen to customers,” says Tawn, “and when they say, ‘oh, we want this,’ we try it.”

The Friedmans do keep some things constant. They use 100 per cent organic flour, and no preservatives or additives. The bakery is peanut-free, though not nut-free. Vegetarians will be interested to know that Robyn Friedman is a vegetarian herself — despite being professionally obliged to cook meat dishes. “My sister just smells and tastes it, and that’s how she makes her meals,” reveals Tawn. “She does everything by feel, a spoonful of this, a pinch of this.”

It’s still the family feel of Le Fournil that makes the bakery stand out. “We’re very family-oriented people, and we make a great team,” says Tawn. “Everyone has their strengths here ... we all complement each other.” The sense of family at the bakery extends to the employees, and to the customers. “You develop a relationship with someone,” says Tawn. “I’ve seen kids growing up. This is what’s so unique about this area, you can walk down the street and say hi to people ... it’s a small village, but it’s a very tight village. We couldn’t be happier owning a business here.”