When Inspiration Walks Through Our Door
Some inspirations remain quietly with us for years—until one day, they walk through our door.
Today, we had the honour of welcoming Chef Masahiko Yoneyama, formerly of Osaka’s Painduce and now the owner-baker of Pan Calite, to Croisserie.
The journey began with a book.
Reading Chef Yoneyama’s work planted a seed—the idea that bread can belong to its place, that vegetables can be more than toppings, and that ingredients should be understood for their season, character and origin.
Later, during our first visit to Painduce in Japan in June 2016, we had the opportunity to see that philosophy brought to life.
Returning to Painduce in February 2019.
Over time, those ideas found their own expression at Croisserie, inspiring the vegetable-forward tartines we serve today.
The range brings a different character to each tartine: roasted eggplant with eryngii mushrooms; basil pesto with cherry tomatoes; and spring onion with its familiar savoury aroma. Most distinctive are the Lotus Root Chicken Tartine, where the natural pattern of organic renkon becomes its visual signature, and the Pumpkin Chicken Tartine, shaped by the warmth, colour and gentle sweetness of roasted pumpkin.
Together, they reflect how we have come to see vegetables—not as a finishing touch, but as an ingredient capable of defining the bread around it.
Chef Yoneyama chose our Spring Onion Chicken Tartine to taste.
This philosophy also resonates with how we approach sourcing at Croisserie. We try to look beyond the ingredient itself—to understand where it comes from and, whenever possible, know the producers and people responsible for growing or making it.
Every ingredient carries something of its soil, its season and the hands behind it. Understanding that story allows us to work with greater care and express it through bread in a way that belongs to Croisserie.
Today, Chef Yoneyama stood before the tartine range that had grown, in part, from the seed his work planted years ago.
We brought out the same book and asked him to sign it.
After seeing our tartines, Chef simply said:
“Good job.”
Two small words—but they held an entire journey.
A book was read.
A seed was planted.
The philosophy was later encountered in Japan.
Then, through time, thought and practice, it grew into something of our own at Croisserie.
When the time was right, the person who had inspired that journey arrived to see what had grown from it.
“Good job” was more than a compliment.
It was a quiet moment of recognition—and a circle gently completed.
It was truly an honour to welcome Chef Masahiko Yoneyama to Croisserie.