Founded in 2019 with a simple belief that Vancouver deserved truly great bread
"Great bread and pastries have the power to connect people and create unforgettable moments."
Welcome to The Bench Bakehouse, where the timeless art of French baking meets local craftsmanship and creativity. Our bakery opened in January 2019, born from a passionate belief that the Commercial Drive neighbourhood — and all of Vancouver — deserved something truly exceptional.
Our co-founder left a successful career and set off to discover the secrets to French bread and pastry at the prestigious École Gastronomique Bellouet Conseil in Paris, France. Travelling through Europe, immersing themselves in the culture, sampling countless pastries and baguettes, they were inspired to return to Vancouver and build something lasting.
That something became The Bench Bakehouse.
We use the best ingredients we can source — Canadian whole grains, real butter, no additives. Quality is not a marketing word. It's a daily practice.
Our bread is fermented over days, not hours. We refuse to rush the process. The result is flavour, texture, and nutrition that fast bread simply can't replicate.
We're a neighbourhood bakery on Commercial Drive, and that means something. We support local farms, hire locally, and bake for the people who live and work nearby.
Our bread contains nothing hidden. Whole grains, natural leaven, water, salt. Our pastries contain real butter. We could say "natural" — we prefer to just be it.
Our bread follows a traditional multi-day process that produces a depth of flavour and nutrition modern fast-baked bread simply cannot match.
Many of our grains are milled on-site from organic Canadian wheat. Fresh-milled flour retains the bran and germ, preserving maximum nutrients and contributing to a deeper, nuttier flavour.
We use natural leaven — wild yeast — instead of commercial yeast. Our starter is carefully maintained and contributes to the bread's complex flavour, open crumb, and longer shelf life.
After shaping, each loaf is cold-fermented for up to 72 hours. The cold slows fermentation and allows complex flavours to develop slowly, producing a far more complex and nuanced bread.
Loaves are baked in a very hot oven to produce that signature thick, caramelized crust — the hallmark of a proper artisan loaf. The contrast between crust and crumb is everything.