She’s from Canada. He’s from New Zealand. The two met in England, moved back to Canada to start a family, and one night found themselves encouraging friends to start a family business selling their delicious balsamic vinaigrette. The Canadian and the Kiwi, Paula and Mark Lamming, proved so inspiring that their friends did, in fact, bottled their vinaigrette to sell at the next season’s farmer’s market in Whistler, Canada. They asked the Lammings for one small favor: to bake some bread for people to dip in the balsamic.
You might guess what happened next.
First there were happy customers, then there were borrowed ovens from the convenience store and the local high school, and many long lines at the Whistler Farmer’s Market later, Purebread made its way into Whistler Village with its own brick and mortar store. A haven of coffee, biscuits, and buttery muffins, each item at Purebread is made with the same love and care that your grandmother might have taken.
“The thing with bread is that it’s one loaf to the next, one batch to the next, and no two loaves are ever the same,” says Mark Lamming. “It means that everybody needs to work as a team. It creates a great bond within the group. It’s a hands-on approach: you’re not creating a bulk product, you’re part of the whole process.”
Purebread’s current abode is a temporary location. Their first shop had to close due to a nearby fire. Come this June, they’ll be headed back to their original space, still within Whistler Village, and still serving the same loved bread.
That’s the thing about bread. The oven can change, and so can the weather, but as long as it’s made with love, it’ll taste good every time.
Visit Purebread at their pop-up shop in the Whistler Marketplace or in Function Junction in Whistler, BC.
Some photos I shot for Lincoln and TEDTalks this past week in Whistler, BC