If you venture into the Austrian Tirol you can get a sense of the traditional baker that has more or less vanished at everywhere but the top end in the UK.
For those familiar with the modus operandi of bakeries in this country, the best that can be hoped for is that the custard slice or chocolate éclair that you have just bought has been made today.
For the most part, ambience plays little part in the experience of buying cakes, bread et al and in the better bakery departments of the big supermarkets, a few wicker baskets is about as good as it gets.
Refreshing, therefore, to see that if you venture into the Austrian Tirol you can get a sense of the traditional baker that has more or less vanished at everywhere but the top end in the UK. Designed by London consultancy JHP, Der Bäcker Ruetz, in Kematen, still uses the counters that are the stuff of British retail bakeries, but then installs a mid-shop fixture and uses oak, large slate tiles and stone walls to reflect Tirolean vernacular architecture. It is an interesting mix of the contemporary and the traditional.
Rather more to the point, it also makes the product the star, backlighting the bread, pastries, etc, and making them all shine by providing a neutral setting. It is also worth noting the overhead spotlights, which are at a sufficient height from the stock to avoid their having an impact on freshness, while at the same time adding drama through the creation of light and shade: it’s about lighting the stock, rather than the store.
On a less grandiose scale, all of this would be capable of replication. And you have to wonder why field trips by the big retailers to see what others are doing so frequently fail to come up with environments that look like this.
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