We are excited to announce that we will be using bread from Hopla Geiss Bakery in our coffee bar. The Hopla Geiss Bakery is an authentic, natural bakery that makes the simple extraordinary. Certified organic, the products are made with flours without additives and all raw materials are organic. Now when you visit Apex coffee bar, you can eat a sandwich made on this fresh Hopla Geiss bread and enjoy both coffee and bread that warms the soul.
Founded in 2016 by Dimitri Pierrot and Nicolas Scheidt, the fundamental principles of Hopla Geiss are simple: quality organic or biodynamic raw materials, old-fashioned manufacturing processes, and time. The initial goal of the bakery was to supply bread for restaurants La Buvette and Cafe des Spores located in Saint-Gilles near the bakery. Now the bakery’s offerings are available to the general public and to other businesses like Apex.
We sat down with founder Dimitri Pierrot to learn more about his story and the unique story of Hopla Geiss. Now we have the pleasure of sharing these stories with you.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hopla Geiss
The Bakery
Two years ago, the Hopla Geiss Bakery was formed. Today it is only growing. Currently, about 80% of the business is focused on providing bread to restaurants, cafes, cheese makers, organic shops, and other businesses. The other 20% is focused on individual customers.
On average, the bakery makes 70 loaves of bread a day with each loaf weighing 1.5 kilos. That is 105 kilos of bread each day. This is not to mention the 200 to 300 baguettes and 150 specials the bakery also produces.
While the bakery is 100% certified organic, they do not boast it the way others might. It is not a commercial ploy. For them, they simply make good bread, the way it should be. They also believe “it is very important to make organic bread to avoid wasting food.” Despite how much they produce, they never throw out bread – not once in the past two years.
Founder Dimitri Pierrot truly takes pleasure in the work he does. When he talks about his work, he focuses on how much he enjoys working with living materials. He explained that “it is not an everyday job. Everyday is different. You have to be adaptable. You have to take care of it the way you would take care of a baby.”
The Founder
For Dimitri, Hopla Geiss has been something he has worked towards most of his life. While initially heading to university with the intent to study law, Dimitri soon left and pursued a culinary career at chef school. He studied for three years in France and then studied for one year in Stockholm where he worked at his first organic bakery. Shortly after this experience, he spent five years in bakery school obtaining his masters degree.
During this time, he also worked in an old style bakery in France dating back to 1919. When his former boss Nicolas Scheidt called and asked him to move to Brussels to help with his restaurant La Buvette, Dimitri came and set to work as a chef in the kitchen of La Buvette. Not too soon after, Nicolas asked Dimitri to join him in creating Hopla Geiss Bakery. The rest is history.
Baking bread is an “old craft,” Dimitri said. “We are in that slow food direction.” Since moving to Brussels, Dimitri has taken the time to appreciate everything from food and bread to wine, beer, and coffee. He credits our mutual friends MOK for exposing him to the world of speciality coffee. In his interview with us, he shared his favorite coffee order with us – ristretto.
Baking bread, like brewing coffee, is a delicate and technically craft. It takes great care and attention to detail. When you get it right though, the results can be exceptional.To discover Hopla Geiss’s amazing bread yourself, come check it out as Apex Coffee Bar.