Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/760410
1 0 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t IT'S 6:30 AM ON A FRIDAY, and while most people are still asleep or at home getting ready, Frédéric Souliès has already been hard at work for over three hours. President of Pitchoun! Bakery (which means "kiddo" in French), Souliès is at the bakery five days a week, over- seeing the three teams of bakers that make the fresh bread, pastries and croissants that fill the cases in the large, warm space of Pitchoun! in Downtown Los Ange- les. Souliès came from a family of bakers in France, and after studying at the L'Ecole de Boulangerie Patis- serie de Paris, he and his wife Fabienne moved to Los Angeles to open their bakery in 2014. "I had to train in San Francisco to learn to how to use American ingredients," Souliès admits as he sits at a table in the bakery, a brief respite from the strenuous task of roll- ing out baguettes. "It took me three months to adjust my recipes. American flour is dif- ferent than flour in France; it has much more elasticity." Now he uses a King Arthur flour, type 65, for his traditional-style breads, which include whole wheat, rye, country and baguettes, among others. Every loaf of bread is built from a "levain", a sour- dough starter that is not quite the San Franciscan style sourdough you may have in mind. "Yes, it's a sourdough start," Souliès explains, "but not the bitter sourdough Americans are used to. In France, sourdough is sweeter. Sometimes even honey is added. It's a big difference." Their starter (a small bit of fermented dough that is the base for every new batch of bread to maintain consis- tency and texture) is over three years old. "It's a bit like a goldfish," Souliès laughs. "It's a living thing. You have to regulate the temperature of your levain, feed it two times a week, make sure it's well." The starter sits in an enormous vat next to the baguette station, where Souliès demonstrates how to roll out a traditional baguette with a well-practiced hand. Souliès and his bakers will make around 600 loaves of bread a day in a well-regimented routine. From 2 AM to 9 AM they'll bake breads that have been in the proofer overnight, and begin production for breads to be baked the next day. 5 PM to 1 AM is the pastry shift, when the French pastries like bougères, chouquettes, éclairs and mille-feuilles are made from scratch. 8 PM to 4 AM is for the croissant makers. By seven, all the baked goods are sent out across the city to restaurants like Otium and Joann's on 3 rd , as well as hotels and catering venues. "We also make Pullman and brioche loafs for French people!" adds Souliès. "Americans tend to love traditional French pastries; we mostly stick to the classics for them." Souliès and his bakers will also make specialty breads full of cran- berries or fig and nuts for various local farmer's markets. Although word of mouth has considerably grown Pitchoun!'s business, Souliès isn't necessarily interested in expanding: "It's a craft that we take pride in. I don't want to become a chain; I'd rather keep it artisan." It's 8 AM, and he heads back to the kitchen. He still has another hour of work before he's finished with his shift, and people are coming into the café, ready to start their day. FROM THE BREADBOX PITCHOUN! CARRIES ON THE TRADITION OF FRENCH BAKING IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES by Jesse Hom-Dawson Frédéric Souliès, owner of Pitchoun! Bakery. Pitchoun! Bakery in Downtown Los Angeles. PHOTOS COURTESY OF PITCHOUN BAKERY A large loaf of country bread, a Pitchoun! specialty. Bags of ba- guettes, waiting to be delivered to restaurants across Los Angeles. Early to Bread, Early to Rise ■cr