The Whole Grain Hearth
Baked Goods

The Whole Grain Hearth

Richard Placzek

“My goal is to provide my family and friends with the healthiest most digestible bread possible. To reach this goal I’m committed to only using natural sourdough yeast in my breads, as well using freshly milled organic grains.” – Richard Placzek, Owner of The Whole Grain Hearth

Richard, the owner and titled “bread guy,” Sammy, the manager and pastry chef, and their team of eight bring you naturally fermented sourdough bread and rustic, hand-made pastries! They are incredibly proud that they mill their own flour, and equally in love with their mill. It’s painted orange to match their logo and is from New American Stone Mills in Vermont, USA. It features two 48-inch granite stones that the team needs to regrind twice a year. Ask them all about it and they will be sure to include you in the excitement!

All of the grain The Whole Grain Hearth uses is organic and grown in Canada. They don’t sift any of their milled flour (you can pick up on that in their name – “Whole Grain!”) leaving the best and most flavourful aspects of the grains in their baked goods!

From 2018 when bakery names were being tossed around, to 2021 where they have a retail location, they attend four farmers’ markets in the area including our own, their baked goods are available at Remark, and they have an online ordering system and deliveries within London, the Whole Grain has seen a lot of growth!

It certainly did not happen without a lot of hard work – Richard and Sammy are humbled by their customers’ feedback, their growing team, and their success. Something they’re incredibly proud of is their whole grain laminated pastries. They make weekly changes to their croissant and danish dough to offer you the most delicious versions possible!

Now that you know them, make sure to introduce yourself to the team at Market! It’s one of their favourite reasons to be at Farmers’ Markets – getting to know their customers. Come say hi at the Market, pop in at their bakery, or place an online order! They take pre-orders from Sunday to Wednesday and deliver within London on Fridays. Find a new menu each week on their website: https://shoptwgh.square.site

BONUS FUN FACTS:

The team loves listening to True Crime Podcasts while baking! Why? Well: “The intensity of the episodes makes us work harder because we are kind of scared. LOL!”

The Whole Grain Hearth has two sourdough starters named Zeus and Butters. Zeus and Butters are both four years old and are such an integral part of the team that they’ve even gone to Toronto with the team on vacation, twice! Zeus is made with whole wheat flour and Butters is 100% rye flour.