Bake Code at North York

Last Tuesday, I was given a special treat of being one of the foodies to get a preview of a new bakery at North York. A Taiwanese import, Bake Code, officially opened north of Yonge and Sheppard this Thursday. Best known for their high quality breads, they introduce a new Asian-European flair, putting together what makes bread comforting for both cultures.

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I was rather late for the event. It was easy enough to find as it was close to the Yonge & Sheppard subway. The party had already started and the turn-out was quite successful. When I walked in, I immediately understood the air of excitement. Almost all the loaves of bread on display have bite size pieces for us to try. For the ones that didn’t have any trial pieces, we were welcome to take the whole thing. I was perplexed on what to try first. Knowing I would be full rather quickly if I just methodically try each item, I opted to walk around and check out the offerings through the bakery. It is the only way I know how to make sure that I am able to walk back home and not fall into deep food coma.

As I checked out the baked goodies, I appreciated the spaciousness of the bakery/café. Up to one side was a bar for ordering coffee and teas. Treats that one enjoys with Chatime Canada are available to pair with the rows and rows of options of breads and pastries. I must confess that I was searching for the savoury offerings and I overlooked the sweet ones. I tend to like salty over sweet. So I gravitated in trying their Cranberry Flaxseed, Cranberry Farlona, Bacon Épi, Goji Berry Roll and Mentaiko Baguette. If you could resist trying so many breads and would only allow yourself to one choice, I recommend that you try Mentaiko Baguette. Crusty open-faced baguette topped with fish roe, lemon, wasabi and mayonnaise made so much sense to me, I asked for more when I saw that the bite size pieces were gone. I was rather embarrassed but secretly beaming when they gave me one whole baguette when I asked for more to try. THAT was really such a treat. Honourable mention goes to the Bacon Épi. I definitely enjoyed the texture of this delight, crusty with a good whiff of bacon, what is there to complain about?

And as if they read my mind, after we were all stuffed with bread, they offered to give us a tour of their kitchen. The kitchen is deceivingly small from the viewing window. The back-end was deep and wide, with work spaces for rolling dough. I was able to take a peek at drums of yeast that is left to rise for seven days. Drums! It is rather mind-boggling how many breads they intend to make. With their massive ovens in the front and back, everything is made in-house. I wished I took more pics of the kitchen but my curiosity to listen to detail won over. To say it was an impressive kitchen would not suffice.

@BakeCode , welcome to my neighbourhood! You definitely made this foodie happy by choosing North York. I would definitely come back for more Mentaiko baguette! Congratulations for your successful opening!