A few days ago, we were delighted to welcome our friend Gautier Coiffard (@gautier_gaut) co-founder and co-owner of famed bakery L’Appartement 4F (@lappartement4f) and his head baker Andy. We opened our bakeshop around the same time that Gautier opened up his new West Village bakery. We’d promised each other that we would visit each other’s new bakeries but our schedules didn’t line up until recently.
When you’re deep in the trenches, having someone show up—just to listen, encourage, and share a moment of real connection—means the world. Since opening the bakeshop, we haven’t had many chances to see old friends, and his visit brought us a much-needed boost. Unless you’ve started your own bakery, it’s very hard to understand just how much work, blood, sweat and tears goes in every day to keep it running. Having Gautier chat with us, share stories and experiences was priceless. L’Appartement 4F has achieved status, fame and success far beyond what we can imagine for our small bakeshop, but we still share the same struggles. Gautier’s sincerity, grounded spirit, and generous heart reminded us why community matters so much in this journey.
