transylvanian peasant bread in vancouver

The new bakery on West Broadway (West of Trutch... maybe Waterloo or so, across from the lumber yard) is worth checking out. The guy who runs it is a bit crazy but in a good way, and only makes one kind of bread from his wood-fired brick oven. It's great stuff... a thick crust and a crumb with lots of texture, very substantial. It keeps well for several days and toasts up amazingly well. It's one of those places that I fear won't be around long, since the location isn't great and the neighbourhood has just been hit with a newly-opened Cobs Bread (=yuppie bread emporium) close to MacDonald.

[cdnprairiedog]

Transylvania looks like it will open soon in Beyond Bread, a new bakery in the Alma/4th Ave neighbourhood.

[clutterer]

It's now open (it's pretty much right across the street from Quercia). They had to get rid of the wood burning oven due to some legal restrictions. The contrast between the two environments is as great as can be, but the bread sure tastes just as fine.

[LemonSalt]

I think this is such a great place - I think the wood burning oven is great. Last time I was in to pick up a loaf he asked me which one spoke to me. I must have picked the right one as it was very good, very heavy and good. Love the cafe next door as well. And it seems like this section of is getting more interesting. As for Cobs bread - no thanks.

[grayelf]

"love the cafe next door as well"

That would be Coco et Olive -- here's me waxing rhapsodic http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/633848

[Serenade]

All the way from England to Transylvanian bread.
I would happily travel across the Atlantic and all of Canada just to be able to go back to that wonderful bakery.... My cousins bought some for our picnics whilst travelling round... It lasted for days. Beautiful! Keep going!

[Exile]

It is now 5 years after this first post, and Floran at Transylvania Bakery is still fast at it, producing THE BEST BREAD IN VANCOUVER, BC. With no sugar and the purest of ingredients, his loaves of one and two kilograms ($8 and $12) come out fresh every few hours and stay moist and tasty for days. The hard crust is the key to both this longevity and its incredible mouth-feel. Do not feel at all odd if you find yourself ripping off a hunk of the loaf as you exit the store, and tasting the loaf at its very freshest. Better yet, just sink your teeth in deep, in true Transylvanian style. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
For a real 100-mile diet, please don't drive in from Kamloops just to visit this bakery, but if you are in walking, cycling, or transit distance--on the 7, 17, Broadway 9 or B-line at Collingwood, 2 blocks east of Alma--this is sustainable bread that truly sustains!

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Transylvania Bakery
3474 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6R, CA

[John Manzo]

Unless the wheat and every other ingredient is from the lower mainland, which is pretty unlikely, this isn't 100-mile-diet bread.

[repartee]

There's also a branch in Steveston, I bought a loaf and for the time it lasted, iit didn't go mouldy or stale and OMG that stuff stays with you, doesn't it?

Yeah, I agree. I just had it for lunch and it was great, but just as good as the bread was the store itself. One brick oven in the middle of the room and a counter - everything raw wood It looks like a bread store from the Hudson's Bay Co. early days.

The bread smells like fresh baked pizza dough, must be the brick oven.

Link: http://www.jackandjill.ca

I picked up a loaf yesterday and am very pleased with the product-Thanks for the suggestion.
It's a 'mighty loaf'-not for triflers or dilettantes.
So far it's seen me through 2 picnics and now I'm about to have some with breakfast.
The wood burning oven adds something-the flavours become more complex and pronounced.

The guy who has is shop is over the top -think about it - a small business which sells one thing - a huge loaf of great bread! I bought one yesterday - still warm from the oven and ran home to slather some butter on this delicacy - wow - good stuff and I understand why he charges $10 for the mega-loaf - smaller sizes might be an idea for families with less than 20 to feed - !