Family affair
APOLLONIA POILÂNE• Poilâne
WORK • Friday Routine
APOLLONIA POILÂNE • baker and CEO • Poilâne
Neighborhood you live and work in in: Saint Germain des Prés
It’s Friday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
It’s the earlier hours of the day, as I turn into Rue du Cherche-Midi, the delicious smell of the bakery infusing the air. Could you think of a better way to draw an end to your week? I typically enter the store to say hello to each person on the team working that morning.
Poilâne was started by my grandfather, Pierre Poilâne, back in 1932. Over the years, we’ve gained recognition in our neighborhood and beyond. For now, we’re getting our orders ready to serve our clients eager to have a croissant on their way to school, a whole loaf to escape the city for the weekend, or the lovers of our ‘pâtisseries boulangères,’ like our apple tart. My office is just above the bakery, so the smells of the different productions from our wood-fired oven act like a clock throughout the day.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Today, my focus is two-fold: wrapping up the winter season while simultaneously fine-tuning our spring and summer to come. I’m guiding a visit of our bakehouse to friends of friends in town. I love to share how each baker hand-shapes each loaf and is responsible for their entire batch’s production, furthering the love and care we put into our craft.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I’ll have lunch or dinner at Sauvage on Rue du Cherche-Midi, for a French local and seasonal meal. Or Le Cherche Midi (also on Rue du Cherche-Midi) for a fresh pasta fix. For apéro, I could splurge at Hotel Lutetia with live music or a beer from the Café de Flore’s tap with a Welsh rarebit if the weather is cold enough.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I’m a cyclist on weekends and tend to go out on Sunday mornings with friends. When we go all out, we may end up at Le Barn for a mid-morning coffee before returning to Paris. I also take my dog for a walk in Champs de Mars or Les Tuileries so we both get our ‘sorties’ for the weekend. And I love to visit an exhibit, galleries, or see a show. I recently went to the Musée Maillol, which presented the extraordinary work of Nadiah Léger. And I loved the retrospective of the centennial Galerie Larock-Granoff.
I’ve also taken my nephew to a great experiential place for children at the back of the Chantelivre bookstore. It’s an indoor playground featuring books from their collection. Honestly, it’s just as much fun for an adult as it is for a child.
Any weekend getaways?
While Alexandre Gauthier’s fine dining restaurant (La Grenouillère, close to Montreuil-sur-Mer in Pas-de-Calais) was flooded last year, his sister restaurants and rooms offer just as delicious an escape from Paris.
What was your last great vacation?
I went to Cancale in Bretagne, West of France, where I would recommend the area ‘Pays Malouin’ at large — the Maisons de Bricourt, more specifically. If you have the time, and the season and weather are right, I would go to the nature-focused Îles Chausey for the day.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
My neighbor Lola makes custom-made bomber jackets, which have been a dream since I slipped into one of her Cafe de Flore editions.
Photo credit: Manuel Obadia-Wills.