This is Dough Bakeshop, a favorite local bakery on Toronto's Danforth since 2009, with great quality, simplicity, and sustainability as its core tenets. What began as a modest operation, focusing on artisanal breads and Ontario-inspired sweets, has grown to become one versatile selection for all house-made baked goods. From gourmet pastries, tarts, and quiches to hearty soups, custom cakes, and its famous breakfast sandwiches—these are freshly made throughout the day—at this bakeshop, one can get it all.
Family values guided, and with a strong commitment to craftsmanship, Dough Bakeshop is truly a family-run affair. With Tracy, its founder and pioneer of the organic food movement, leading the affairs, ably assisted by her daughter Oonagh, bringing in much experience in environmental ethics, maybe this bakery actually represents a philosophy-a philosophy standing tall for tradition and quality. The team, with a European-style approach, only bakes once a day, aiming for freshness and flavor that transport customers back to comforting aromas reminiscent of their grandmother's kitchen.
Sustainability is sewn into every seam of how Dough Bakeshop does business. From locally sourced ingredients down to a hard-and-fast rule of zero food waste, the bakery is determined to buck the trend of a convenience culture so often dominating the food industry. Leftovers are donated, repurposed, or sold at a discount. Composting and recycling practices are followed to the letter. The team partners with local produce vendors who help minimize waste by using stock that's almost spoiled, and they even privately recycle single-use plastics. Takeout coffee cups and lids are fully compostable, embracing a bring-your-own future.
The philosophy of the bakery is small batches and handmade with no preservatives or fillers. Dough Bakeshop strives to make the baking process as irreplaceably nostalgic and sensory as possible, using fresh, local, organic ingredients whenever available. This commitment to the slow, local production of food makes it a staple in this community for reasons that go beyond its delicious products and into its thoughtful baking practices. For Dough Bakeshop, organic growth has come effortlessly, always open to new ideas and feedback, harnessed on one singular focus: to leave the food industry better than the way it was found.
