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Eric the Baker fills a niche, and lots and lots of stomachs

Loyal customers and traditional methods have made small downtown bakery a huge success
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Eric Chevalier and partner Paula Moiseev.

Christmas Eve is, for many, a day of excitement and anticipation and that certainly was the case for Eric Chevalier three years ago when he first opened the doors of Eric the Baker and allowed the aroma of fresh-baked French pastries to drift out on to Carden Street.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way I was embraced by the community,” said Chevalier.  “Right away, people loved what I did. They appreciated the traditional French pastries and all that.”

The public’s appreciation for Eric the Baker’s authentic creations has translated into a steady stream of loyal customers.

“It is mostly the people working in the stores and the store owners downtown,” he said. “I have really turned it into something I wanted – the local bakery, the local lunch spot.”

A large part of Eric the Baker’s appeal is that he stays true to the traditions of French patisserie Boulanger and insists that everything is made in-house from scratch.

“Everything - the mayonnaise, the vinaigrette – everything,” said Chevalier. “I don’t buy anything pre-mixed other than salamis and prosciutto and things like that.”

Chevalier was born in Saint Jean De Luz, France to a family of culinary artists. His great, great, great, great grandmother was the first woman cordon bleu chef at the legendary Le Grande Hotel des Paris.

He moved to Canada with his mother in 1974 when he was five years old and got his first experience as a baker helping at his grandmother’s restaurant Le Petit Gourmet in Toronto.

“I was a little brat running around the tables and my grandmother would grab me by the ear and tell me to make something,” he said. “I was seven years old and I made these little mice with almond filling on the inside. It was basically an almond croissant. I put on little eyes and a little tail. They became so popular she had to keep making them.”

It was during those formative years that he developed a passion for baking and a strong work ethic.

“You have to pay your dues,” he said. “To learn my trade I have given at least two years for free just being in the kitchen. When you first start out you are standing around watching and finally you say, listen, I can do this.”

He worked for many years as a waiter and as a chef before opening his first shop, The Gingerbread Pastry Boutique in Elora. He ran the shop for a year before he and his partner Paula Moiseev began looking for a location in Guelph.

“I got very lucky with this location,” he said. “I like my little spot and my landlord, Chester Carere is great.”

Moiseeev was born in Moscow, Russia and moved to Canada with her family 27 years ago.

She and Chevalier have been together for eight years. They opened Eric the Baker together and she worked in the shop for the first two years. She is now studying to be a pastry chef and preparing for an apprenticeship at the renowned pastry shop, Nadege, in Toronto.

“I miss her,” said Chevalier. “This is our baby but I understand a little about what she is going through. She wants to learn. She wants to master her trade.”

Finding a suitable replacement for Moiseev in the shop has not been easy for Chevalier.

“First off I guess I am a hard man and I demand excellence,” he said.  “I don’t demand that employees be perfect but I do demand their best.”

His high standards have left him short staffed and doing a lot of the work himself.

“If I am in here at 4 a.m. to start the ovens that’s good,” he said. “Then I leave at 6 or 7 o’clock at night. I am just a work horse right now but I try not to work more than 14 hours a day.”

Eric the Baker

Established: December 24, 2013

Owners: Eric Chevalier and Paula Moiseev

46 Carden Street

Guelph, Ontario

N1H 3A2

519 265-8999

[email protected]


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Troy Bridgeman

About the Author: Troy Bridgeman

Troy Bridgeman is a multi-media journalist that has lived and worked in the Guelph community his whole life. He has covered news and events in the city for more than two decades.
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