simply bread
Press
loafing around | smell of bread | love affair
Featured in Elle - November 96 issue:
If you want to live by bread alone, move in next door to Simply Bread. Walk through the glass doors of the bakery and you're greeted by the scent of warm cinnamon rolls, as Crowded House pumps through the speakers. Chances are, you'll also see baker and managing director Christine Fam pounding away at dough, doing a little jig to the beat or crooning in tune with the stereo."I spent one year teaching myself [how to bake]," explains the 24 year old. It began last year in her mother's kitchen ！ Filling orders made by friends or experimenting with recipes. "After a while, the oven wasn't big enough, the mixers weren't big enough and the kitchen wasn't big enough! I wanted real ovens with steam injection because that makes a difference. And I couldn't fit everything into my mother's kitchen so it had to become this," she says, gesturing ot her shop. Simply Bread opened its doors early this year, but it already sells more than 200 loaves a day, not to mention dozens of buns and rolls and wholesale supply for restaurants.
Focaccia, sourdough, baguettes ！ she's created nearly 40 bread recipes. From these, she chooses about 15 to bake daily. There's also a Daily Chef's Special, handled by Yip Chee Seng, her baker and good friend. "This depends on what he feels like making, and I quote," she chuckles. "Today, the Chef's Special is the Molasses Mixed Grain Bread." The second Daily Special is a tea-time bread ！ sticky buns, cinnamon bread, orange layers ... the list goes on. Simply Bread's signature loaf is the Rustic Bread ！ "white bread with a really good crust". "Someone came in the other day. She packs lunch for her kid ！ four slices of Rustic Bread with nothing on it. That is a baker's dream. What a compliment to hear: 'I eat your bread plain'."
But Simply Bread isn't just about loaves. People rarely buy and dash. From kids to taxi drivers and yuppies ！ the shop draws them all. Perhaps it's the aroma of fresh bread that gives people the sense of being at home. Maybe it's the warm smiles, small talk and laughter. This is a "little business run by real people", explains Fam. There's no sales pitch, but a philosophy instead: "Wanna buy? Buy. Don't want, don't buy. We put everything we have in this loaf of bread and if you want to buy a good, honest loaf ！ buy it." And her bottomline? "Stick to something you believe in. If you think it's worth doing, go out and do it." She recommends the potato bread. "I personally recommend making otak-otak sandwiches with it."
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