Le Pain Quotidien (The Daily Bread) is a bakery-café founded in Brussels in 1990 by Alain Coumont. It is now an international chain operating in many countries including the UK and USA. It sells organic bread and cakes in a homey, rustic style.[1]
Contents |
Founder Alain Coumont opened Le Pain Quotidien on 26 October 1990 at 16 rue Danseart in Brussels, Belgium.[2] As a young chef, Alain was dissatisfied with the quality of bread available in Brussels, so he began making his own, mixing flour, water and salt into the familiar loaves of his childhood. He furnished the store with cabinets scoured from antique stores and a large table purchased at a local flea market: the first Le Pain Quotidien’s many communal tables.[3] Gradually, items were added to them menu to complement the bread, including pastries, salads, beverages, tartines (traditional, open-faced sandwiches) and specialty retail products.[4]
Le Pain Quotidien offers tartines, soups, salads, quiches, pastries and desserts. The menu includes vegan and vegetarian options. Additionally, each location offers a line of packaged goods including olive oil, vinegar, spreads which are used in the kitchen or offered on the dining tables.
The cornerstone of Le Pain Quotidien’s menu is its handmade, organic bread. Le Pain Quotidien uses a proprietary blend of organic, stone-ground flour in its breads, the majority of which are made using levain instead of baker’s yeast.
Whenever possible, Le Pain Quotidien sources organic ingredients. Through these purchases, the company espouses to build lasting and meaningful partnerships with organic farmers and ensure its ingredients are of the highest quality.
In 2003, Alain Coumont decided to transition Le Pain Quotidien to an organic company, beginning with its bread production. They also partner with the Organic Valley Cooperative for their milk and eggs in the USA and Les Moulins Mahjoub, a family-owned Tunisian company that produces their olive oils, tapenades and spreads.
Le Pain Quotidien, a member of the Green Restaurant Association , is also committed to green building practices, using reclaimed wood and recycled Gypsum in construction, energy-efficient lighting, and environmentally friendly cleaning supplies and packaging.
Le Pain Quotidien restaurants are simply designed with tan plastered walls and tractor seats and colorful rugs adorning the walls. A signature of each restaurant is its communal table, which is made from reclaimed wood by a Belgian company, Antiques & Design.
Le Pain Quotidien currently operates 151 bakery-café worldwide in 26 cities and 18 countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, India, Germany, Turkey, Russia, and the United States (with a strong presence in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington DC). The first location in the US opened in 1997 in Manhattan.[5] The next market to open in 2011 is Brazil.[5]