A baker's hands placing a freshly scored sourdough loaf into the oven

Edinburgh · Artisan French bakery since 2000

Bread with nothing to hide

Slowly fermented loaves, hand-laminated croissants and French pastries, baked in Edinburgh from flour, water, salt and natural leaven. Nothing more.

Where to buy Our products

Since 2000

A French bakery, quietly at work in Edinburgh

Since 2000 we have baked the traditional French way — the slow way. Around twenty different breads come out of our oven, each one given the time it needs to develop flavour and character. We are not a shop on the high street; we are a working bakery that supplies the city's delis, restaurants and markets.

Read our story

Crates of fresh bread ready to be delivered to Edinburgh delis

The range

The things we are known for

A handful of the breads and pastries our regulars come back for. See the full range.

Signature

Sourdough

Our signature sourdough. A long, slow ferment gives an open, tender crumb and a deep, burnished crust.

Croissant

Our classic all-butter croissant, laminated by hand and proved slowly for an open, honeycombed crumb and a deep golden, flaky shell. Baked fresh in the early morning, the traditional French way.

Cinnamon Palmier

A classic French pastry generously coated with a blend of vanilla custard, fine-grained sugar, and high-quality ground cinnamon, then hand-shaped into a distinctive palm leaf form. Drizzled with icing for a touch of sweetness.

Focaccia

Our authentic Italian focaccia is golden on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside, enriched with extra virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt and fresh rosemary.

How we bake

Time is the only ingredient we add

Good sourdough cannot be hurried. Our method is old and simple: a living leaven, a long ferment, and four honest ingredients.

01
Natural leaven

Every loaf rises on our own natural leaven — a living culture kept alive day after day for years. No shortcuts.
02
Slow fermentation

We give the dough the time it needs, often a full day or more. Slow fermentation builds flavour, structure and a crumb that keeps.
03
Four ingredients

Flour, water, salt and leaven. That is all our sourdough asks for. The craft is in the hands and the timing, not the additives.
04
Baked by hand

Shaped, scored and baked by bakers, not machines. Around twenty breads come out of the oven this way, every baking day.

Read about the craft

Bakers shaping dough on a flour-dusted wooden bench

Place

French heritage, Edinburgh hands

What began as a small French bakery has spent more than two decades feeding the city — one slowly fermented loaf at a time.

We have stayed deliberately small and deliberately traditional. The recipes are French; the flour — French, Belgian and Scottish; the water and the people are Edinburgh. That meeting of heritage and place is what you taste in every loaf.

Viennoiserie & bread

Featured breads and pastries

From the classic baguette to buttery viennoiserie — a rotating look at what is coming out of the oven.

See croissants & pastries

Baguette

Made the traditional French way — crisp, crackling crust and a light, airy interior. Delicious taste, not just on the day it is baked.

Almond Croissant

Our signature croissant given the classic French treatment: filled generously with velvety almond cream, crowned with toasted almond flakes and finished with a dusting of icing sugar.

Pain au Chocolat

The same laminated butter dough wrapped around two batons of rich, dark Belgian chocolate.

Apple Chausson

A French apple turnover — flaky croissant dough folded over a soft, sweet cinnamon apple compote, finished with a gentle dusting.

Across the city

Made in Edinburgh, found across the city

You will not find a queue outside our door — you will find our bread on the city's best tables and stalls instead.

From Stockbridge on a Sunday morning to Leith and the Grassmarket on a Saturday, and on the shelves of independent delis in between, Au Gourmand is woven into the way Edinburgh eats. We bake; the city does the rest.

A market stall of bread and pastries with Edinburgh stone buildings behind

Catch us at the markets

We trade across Edinburgh every weekend. Bring a bag — the best loaves go early.

Sunday

Stockbridge Market

10am – 5pm · Saunders Street, Stockbridge

Our Sunday stall in Stockbridge — fresh bread, croissants and pastries through the morning. Come early for the full range.

Saturday

Leith Market

10am – 4pm · Dock Place, Leith

By the water in Leith every Saturday, with loaves baked that morning alongside the weekend's viennoiserie.

Saturday

Grassmarket Market

10am – 5pm · Grassmarket, Old Town

Beneath the castle in the Old Town, a Saturday fixture for bread, pastries and a long-standing crowd of regulars.

Find a market

Or find us at a deli near you

Independent delis, shops and restaurants across the city carry our bread and pastries. See the full list of stockists and markets.

Delis & Shops

New Town DelisBroughton & Stockbridge
Real FoodsBroughton & Tollcross
SisortiMorningside
The Manna HouseSouth Queensferry
Porto & Fi Deli BistroNewhaven

Restaurants & Cafés

Artisan CoffeeLeith
Books N' Cup CafeStockbridge & Tollcross
Throat Punch CoffeeHaymarket
Red Kite CaféLondon Road
The Coffee CaveFountainbridge
NottLeith

Bread, pastries and wholesale enquiries

Looking to stock Au Gourmand, order for an event, or simply find out where to buy this weekend? We would love to hear from you.

Visit & contact Wholesale