Poilâne

A visit to Poilâne boulangerie was a real treat. We watched bakers at work in the basement as they pulled portions of dough from huge wooden trugs, weighed them, deftly formed smooth balls and dropped them in flour-coated, fabric-lined baskets to create the iconic round sourdough loaves Poilâne is known for. All this was done right beside the old world wood fire oven that was stoked up and ready for baking the daily batch of bread. Up in the store aproned sales ladies bustled about efficiently gathering orders for the steady stream of customers entering the small shop while a worker at the busy caisse rang up purchases and offered complimentary cookies.

Here is an inside look at the bakery and an interview with the late Lionel Poilâne conducted while he mixed the lovely little sugar cookies known as punitions, by hand. Also interviewed, his daughter Apollonia who now runs the family business started by her grandfather, Pierre Poilâne.










A basket of the beautiful golden sable cookies are always available for customers to help themselves.

Where does their name come from? ‘Punition’ is French for ‘punishment’ and the name comes from a little game Pierre Poilâne’s grandmother used to play. She would call over her grandchildren seemingly to punish them and, instead, would open her palms to reveal a handful of butter cookies! - Poilâne website