Meet Pierre-Yves Henry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pierre-Yves Henry. They and their team shared their story with us below:

History Established in 2015. 

Bree’osh is THE bakery for locals to enjoy artisan sourdough breads and pastries. Just look for the line out the door. Pierre, born in Brittany, France, which is known for its amazing butter, buckwheat crêpes, and LE Kouign Amann sweet and buttery brioche, did not start out as a baker. Employed by a bank as CRM Consultant 20 years ago, he realized life was too short to be spent on things in which he had limited interest. Pierre had a yearning to go back to the basics and work with his hands and felt a strong connection to French artisanal bread. After being trained in baking and pastries at Ferrandi, the school of culinary arts in Paris, and working with some of France’s greatest chefs there, Pierre and his wife Nelly decided to travel abroad, share his passion, and learn from other bakers. Lucky for us, after stints in Chile, Columbia, and Peru to assess the opportunity of opening a French Bakery, they found a home right here in Montecito and, more recently, in SB. 

Specialty: 

Nelly and Pierre make homemade Sourdough Brioches bread and viennoiseries. Pierre applies to the brioche, the French artisanal & traditional baguette process making. We focus our energies on sourcing the highest quality ingredients and treat them with respect and with a great attention to details at every single stage of the process. Flour is from Cairnspring Mill (WA), butter is from Beurremont (France), and most of the other ingredients are locally grown /produced, such as greens from Sunrise Organic farm (Lompoc), the honey from Ranch del Vista (Goleta), seasonal fruits from Penryn orchard Specialties. Coffee is also locally roasted by DUNE coffee roaster in Santa Barbara. 

We use liquid sourdough and a slow and long fermentation. It takes 15 hours to make the brioche bread. It takes 3 days to make the croissant. Sourdough enable us to decrease the amount of butter and of sugar by almost 30% / to the French traditional brioche. We are also well known for our organic soft scramble eggs (eggs sandwiches, omelettes), as well as our savory croissant. And among the sweet family croissants, you will get chocolate/almond croissant, cinnamon roll, morning buns, Bostock, and Kouign Amann. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not all all. Bumpy road! Since the opening in 2015, we had many challenges to overcome, such as the Thomas fire in Dec 2017 and the mudslides (in Montecito in Jan 2018) that forced us to close the business for 5 weeks. 

Then, the PANDEMIC in 2020 that forced us to lockdown the business for some time and then open under very strict conditions (social distance, face covered, no cash management allowed, sick staff to be cover, etc.). Consumer habits have changed (curbside, more grab-and-go or pre-orders). Supply chain were disrupted back in those days, production were disturbed for months, resources/skills were extremely hard to find. 

Finally, since 2021, the INFLATION is the biggest challenge we had to face because costs of everything have risen like crazy even though costs have slown down in 2023. 

In 2019, we had to move our main kitchen (end of sublease), which was not anticipated, from Carpinteria to Downtown Santa Barbara. This experience was stressful because we had some leases to pay and around 20 staff that we could not afford to lose. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Baking with freshly organic milled flour and heritage grain is a real passion, and it has become more and more important for me over the years. 

Simply because it’s tastier better for health, and more sustainable. 

At Bree’Osh, we are proud to create exceptional high-quality breads and pastries every day, using not only flour but also following traditional fermentation methods that require SKILLS and take TIME. 

I believe that ingredients should dictate the way we mix/bake like a Chef in a restaurant writes his menu while he sources its ingredients at the farmer’s market. 

We also feel that if people trust us with their time, money, and diet, we should feed them to the best of our abilities. 

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Cooking some galette (savoury crepes) with my grandma when i was 8. Smell of caramelization of the crepes on the bilig (hot plate you use to bake the crepes). Buckwheat galettes smell, usually served with andouille de guemene or ham and cheese. Amazing! 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.breeosh.com
• Instagram: breeoshbakery
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/breeosh-montecito-santa-barbara-2
• Other: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bree-osh-santa-barbara-santa-barbara

Image Credits
Eric Madrid