Golden Hearth Bakery

Never in my life have I met a person who doesn’t love bread. You don’t know anyone either, I’m willing to venture. Yes, there are the carb-shunners, but they don’t count. That’s guilt, not a lack of desire. Everyone has a deep love for bread, especially the freshly baked kind.

Some people are partial to particular bakeries, swearing by their favourites. As for me, since moving to the area a few years ago, I’d dabbled around, mostly settling on various specialty food shop or grocery-store baguettes and such, as I’d never really found a go-to place I was really pleased with. I’m happy to say this changed when the Golden Hearth Baking Co. opened on King Street East in downtown Kitchener.

Golden Hearth was started by Tim Simpson and Aura Hertzog about a year ago. The couple met at cooking school, where Simpson specialized in baking and pastry, and always hoped to start their own business. Just as Hertzog was finishing up her maternity leave (their son is now two-years-old), they decided to take the plunge when they found the perfect spot in the form of an old pizzeria.

Business is now brisk. On a typical day, Simpson is behind the scenes baking all the gorgeous bread (some days start for him at 2 a.m.) while Hertzog greets customers at the cash (though she does bake many of the squares and cookies).

“I do the work and she does the talking,” Simpson jokes.

And ah, the bread. They bake about 11 varieties, from rich, buttery brioche to whole wheat multigrain to schiacciata con l’uva (similar to foccacia) with fennel and sweet grapes. There are cookies, croissants, granola, squares and all kinds of other treats to be had, as well. The shop also stocks other products, like honey, jam and coffee.

Everything they make is either organic or natural, with locally-sourced ingredients (flour comes from a miller in Tavistock) and contains no preservatives or additives. “That’s how we eat at home,” says Simpson, who favours simple, basic recipes. “We’ve always been a scratch bakery and always will.”

Apart from their in-store sales, Simpson and Hertzog found, to their surprise, that wholesaling has turned out to be a large part of their business. “It’s something we didn’t even think about,” says Hertzog. But thanks to networking and word of mouth, their breads and sweets can now be found at restaurants and food shops around the region.

As for the bakery itself, Simpson and Hertzog say they love being downtown. They live nearby, can walk to work, and enjoy the fact that their neighbours are also their customers. They draw traffic from the Kitchener Market across the street and have confidence that the downtown will continue to grow and rejuvenate.

That said, they knew that building a reputation for great bread was all they needed to do, no matter where they set themselves up.

“If people find a place they like,” says Simpson, “they’ll come, no matter where it is.”
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