Don’t give me an “Engineered Product”
just give me a good Loaf of Bread.

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    Trying to find fresh and delicious, healthy and nutrition food in you local supermarket store or bakery can be challenging.

    To maintain a longer shelf life and consistent batches when producing food in large volumes, many food producers add preservatives, stabilizers and other chemicals. This is what is referred to as the “engineered product”. The food producer can test each product within an inch of its life to make sure the texture, colour, odour and appearance are just right, and make adjustments to their formulations and batches, so they can get the exact finished product they desire. You don’t even have to taste it because the test results can tell you whether it’s good to eat or not!

    One of the results, of an engineered product, is that foods have an ingredient list that reads like a full novel. A local supermarket loaf of bread has an ingredient list anywhere around 18 ingredients when all you need to make a loaf of bread is five ingredients, including the yeast culture.

    Shelf live is another issue. Preservatives are put into food products, so that the product will have time to make it to the supermarket and have a decent shelf life in the store. So the bread you buy from the grocery store shelf is no where near the bread you get in a bakery. 

    But all bakeries are not created equal. The trend, especially in supermarkets and restaurants, is to bring in par-baked bread. Bread makers may freeze or partially freeze products as an alternative method of preservation and finish baking it in the store to simulate a freshly baked loaf of bread. In other words short cut the time and reduce the need for highly trained staff because anyone can pop a loaf of bread in the oven.

    There is a price to pay for this kind of food or bakery product, and that is increased chemicals and loss of nutrients and flavour. The real alternative is to find a bakery that that views baking and cooking as a skill and an art, not a chemical formulation.

    This is what Fresh Start Bistro is all about. Owner and baker Dave Dornn saw the changes in the bakery industry and decided that this was not the way he wanted to run his bakery/bistro/catering service. He chose to go back to traditional European methods of baking and cooking. 

    With talented bakers and pastry and Red Seal chefs in his employment, he approaches the art of baking and cooking the old fashioned way. Going back to traditional methods (4 ingredients for bread) and small batch sizes, Dave produces a loaf of bread that is free of added chemicals. He also takes this approach to all his bakery, bistro and catering foods. Dave uses organic ingredients and doesn’t freeze any of his foods or bakery products, so that he can produce the most authentic and healthy foods.

    If you are tempted by homemade cookies and muffins, but are watching your waistline, Fresh Start signature cookies and muffins—which substitute apple sauce for oil— are a great delight to take home to your family.

And if you don’t have time to cook,
pick up a full meal at the bistro
to take home for a special meal.

    Friday specials are a delight as Dave has added to the menu a healthy whole wheat pizza with an assortment of healthy toppings to choose from. The pizzas are baked in a new state of the art bakery oven straight from Italy.

    When you have the choice between engineered products or wholesome traditional foods made by exemplary bakers and chefs, the choice is simple.