It's hard to deny the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread. The heady aroma can stop you in your tracks, and for many it evokes comfort and happy memories of childhood and family.
Burnaby's Rustic Bread Bakery infers the same certainty on an Instagram post: "The smell of our freshly baked rye bread, just before you eat it, is just a small but integral part of a blissful experience you won't forget!"
Established in 2015, the family-owned and operated bakery on Edmonds Street, sells handmade Serbian-style bread and baked goods, pulled fresh from the ovens at 8 a.m.
"We handcraft every bread product and bake them throughout the day to keep our stock fresh," says Joey Gavrić, manager, baker and son to owners Radosav and Daniela Gavrić.
"You can come in at any time of day and our products will be hot and baked within 30 minutes to an hour."
Delicious breads, buns, burek, and pita
There's nothing more satisfying than eating warm fresh baked bread and buns, especially discovering something you love you haven't tried before.
The Gavrić's are passionate about their made from scratch goods, forgoing any preservatives or GMOs. You'll find kiflas, lepinas (soft round bread), baguettes, pletenica (braided bread), ruza (rose) buns, and more.
"Our recipes originate from countries of the former Yugoslavia," reveals Joey. "The bread recipes are all our own, and some of the sweets."
Burek is handmade flaky phyllo dough, which looks like pizza but is a puff pastry, and is stuffed with beef and homemade cheese. You can buy it fresh or frozen.
Serbian pita (pie) is a savory handmade dough, which is stuffed with a variety of delicious fillings: cheese, potato, spinach, meat, sour cherry and apple.
Their most popular is kifla, a crescent-shaped bun, brushed with egg, topped with coarse salt and baked for a nice crunch. "We probably bake about 700-800 a day," he says. "There's so many ways to enjoy it; it's beautiful with Nutella on it."
Second most popular is lepina, a round pita-like bun. Baked at a high temperature for a short time gives it its fluffiness. "When the bun is finished, you almost don't need a knife—it practically splits open," explains Joey.
Their homemade cheese (kajmak), a slightly sweet, strong-flavoured Serbian/Croatian unripened cheese, is delectable served on lepina as an appetizer.
Top savory and sweet treats
Don't miss the cheese pastry rolls, with or without ham, baked with homemade ricotta, topped with sesame seeds. "These are popular among the workers in the area, who always come in for a few on their break," says Joey.
Their number one sweet is the blueberry cheesecake, Radosav's specialty, with French Neufchâtel cream cheese and a slightly crunchy graham crust.
Other popular treats include, cupavac, sponge cake dipped in velvety chocolate, sprinkled with coconut—a European version of Australian lamingtons; sampita, whipped meringue and phyllo layers cut in large squares; and madjarica, thin moist cake layers between chocolate filling.
Serbian traditions
Once you step inside, you'll be hard-pressed not to leave with your arms full of loaves, some unique—others traditional, plus rolls, buns, and pastries.
Daniela passionately believes, "Preserve your traditions. Especially if it's delicious."
"We try to cater to our community as best we can," adds Joey. "If there's something we can do that's unique for our customers, we try to provide that as much as possible."
His advice to customers: "try something fresh and different."
"Whenever somebody new comes in, we steer them towards the kifla and lepina, and always add one into a bag regardless of what they buy. We want people to give them a try—they're delicious, so there's nothing to lose."
For more information, visit instagram.com/rustic.bread.bakery or call 604-518-1332.
