How Michael Klausen Got Into Bread

These days, sourdough bread is our daily bread – you can buy it almost anywhere. But that hasn’t always been the case. In Sydney, back in the relative obscurity of the 1990s, the only way to get your hands on a loaf of sourdough was to bake it your self. That’s essentially, how Brasserie Bread came into being.

The story begins in the kitchen of one of Sydney’s groundbreaking restaurants of the day, Bayswater Brasserie in Kings Cross. Our top baker, Michael Klausen, who was the head chef at the time, and co-owner Tony Papas, now with Allpress Espresso and Shoreditch Roastery & Café in London, wanted a good sourdough on the menu and because they couldn’t find a bakery already doing it, decided they’d have a go at baking it themselves.

Following instructions from a book, their first efforts were, well, pretty poor. But failure spurred them on. They started to think about what was happening in the process, trying to understand the ingredients and ferments and how to keep the sourdough starter alive. They wanted to develop good flavour and a chewy crust, make a nice dense bread with good texture and taste.

They were not the only guys playing around with sourdough: there was already a nascent artisan bakery movement happening in California that was influencing cooks and chefs around the world. People were being drawn to old baking traditions and bread that had character and flavour.

That was the motive for the guys at Bayswater Brasserie, flavour. They didn’t set out to be bakers, but that’s what happened. People started noticing how good their bread was and chefs from other restaurants asked if they could buy it.

Looking back, Michael Klausen can remember the awe he felt when they baked their first good sourdough. It marked the moment he became more baker than chef.