La Farine Bakery

Specialties

We offer a variety of specialty breads and pastries hand made daily to indulge you in old world traditions

History

Established in 2005.

La Farine originated in Palatine 9 years ago, where owner, Rida Shahin, brought his baking skills. At first the purpose of the bakery was for whole sale, until he decided to expand the business in to retail and that is when we moved the bakery to Wicker Park in 2008. In 2010, La Farine Bakery received «Best Bread» award from Time Out Chicago because of our unique flavors, textures and crust that give our bread a wonderful versatility. Three years later, there was a HIGH demand from both our retail and wholesale, we had to move our business in to a bigger location. Now you can find La Farine Bakery in Avondale neighborhood, in a beautiful vintage 12,000 square foot building serving our fresh baked breads and pastries.

Meet the Business Owner

Rida S.

Business Owner

Rida not only has a passion for bread but it’s his life! He (Middle Eastern) and his wife (Polish), had been searching for a bread they could get behind. Every loaf they found was a disappointment, Rida took up the task himself and searched for a recipe and made a baguette and that is when it all started. Bread consumed him, and eventually he quit his job as a biologist. («You don’t see the result for two years in biology,» he reasons. «But in the bakery, you see a loaf of bread»). He traveled to Minnesota and studied at the National Baking Center, where he immersed himself in an ancient way of bread making, where time is the main component. The list of ingredients he refuses to put in his bread (sugar, oil, margarine, fermenters) grew longer than those that he will (flour, yeast, water, salt). He returned to Palatine; purchased an stone-​hearth oven imported from Europe, began his meticulous preparation using age-​old artisan bread making techniques, premium ingredients.