Who she is
Take one bite out of one of Laura MacLeod’s chocolate-coated eclairs and you’ll know that she’s the real deal. Going into culinary school MacLeod didn’t have her mind set on baking but to her surprise she fell in love with it. “I think it had more of a design element. It was a blend of things that I like to do, because it’s decorative and you do it piece by piece and put it together,” she says. After years of
interior designing, travelling and culture-consuming, the Dartmouth native opened The Old Apothecary Bakery (1549 Barrington Street) about a year ago.
What she does
As the baker behind the bakery, MacLeod is up and at work at 6am six days of the week. She begins by turning on the ovens and gets to work on preparing bread. “I like the relaxation of doing the bread in the morning because I tend to be doing that when I’m here by myself,” she says. Her first tasks are the croissants, shaping the bread and making doughnuts before the bakery opens for the day. Then she moves on to lunch items, like mixing the salads up and getting the desert ready for the new lunch box items, and by afternoon it’s all about prepping for the next day.
Where she does it
Before graduating from Vancouver’s Pacific Institute for Culinary Arts MacLeod started the search for an historic building in Halifax, with brick walls and hardwood floors. To her disbelief she was fortunate enough to snag 1549 Barrington Street (which was once a pharmacy, hence the bakery’s name). After not even a year, The Old Apothecary has already expanded its bright, pop-arty space, making more room to indulge by opening its extra street-level seating last week.
Signature creation
Inside the glass box of sweets everything is a treat to the eye, but for MacLeod signature items at the cafe are definitely the salted caramel brownie and eclairs. “The first day that we opened was during Open City. We made 300 eclairs and we were sold out before lunch. It was definitely an eye opener,” she says. “Every time I put something new in the case I stand upstairs for a little while to hear back from customers about whether they think it’s going to taste good.”
The Old Apothecary Bakery
1549 Barrington Street
Mon-Wed, 8am-5pm; Thu-Fri, 8am-6pm; Sat, 9am-4pm
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This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2016.
Outrageous price for EVERYTHING at this place. I think the owner should go to work a little earlier seeing as every morning by 8am there are no $3 miniature croissants left. My pocket book doesn’t mind.
This place is NOT re-inventing the wheel. A baker that starts at 6am is a joke.9$ cheese bread is an even bigger joke. IT’S BREAD PEOPLE!?! Halifax loves this type of trendy crap.
Not a BAKERY and not an APOTHECARY this place is a NOVELTY.
Ok I just seen on your website that an 8” pie is being sold for $28?!?!?!? I recommend you take some time to research what a real bakery in Germany or France charges for these types of items. In those countries the baker does not try to gouge his locals. Also a bakery that opens at 8am, when most people are already at work makes no sense whatsoever. Thanks to tourists you will be in business for another year or two.
@quebecthunder – Be a big boy or big girl and don’t eat there. Pretty simple. Don’t throw shade and insult someone trying to run a business and contribute to the greater economy.
I tried to put a few chocolate croissants on hold to pick up when I got off work the other week. I said I would be in between 5 and 6. The woman told me she could only hold them until 5:30 because that’s when they get rid of all their baked goods. Who says this to a customer who coming in to pick up something and paying for it? Really rubbed me the wrong way, I’ll be purchasing my croissants from another bakery.
Thank you for the constructive feedback and the personal insult. I’ll do you the courtesy of not responding in kind. I don’t know the owner, I’ve purchased 2 or 3 coffees there. I have no vested interest in defending her business. But given how terrible the local economy has been (historically), anyone having the balls to start a business in this province should be supported. Maybe not with your dollars, I get that. You think it’s too expensive? Don’t shop there. But to actively disparage the business, publicly and anonymously is the opposite of the type of culture change this province needs and was encouraged in the Ivany report. But I guess do you.
@Quebecthunder fwiw, Parisian bakeries charge about that for a pie… well, for the French equivalent, a tarte, that serves 4-5 people. They are usually around 25€-35€ and a bakery like Poilâne charges between 4€ and 9€ for a loaf of their bread so perhaps she did just as you suggest, she took the time to research what a real bakery in France charges for these types of items.
Glad to see someone else mentioning Poilâne, maybe do yourselves a favor and check them out via google or whatever, their prices are listed….
Halifax DOES love this trendy shit and many pay for it. I refuse to buy from the two farmer’s markets as they gouge the customer, just like the two bakeries here do. No, the standard for a pie in France is not 25€-35€ nor is bread at a standard price of 9€; you can buy at those prices but they are the bakeries that target the tourist – I’m surprised that argument was made. Yes, TOA charges WAY too much and because they can; there are only 2 bakeries in Halifax and surrounding areas and Haligonians are too stupid to demand a lower price. Like the others say, don’t go but don’t join the dummies not demanding a better price…
@Charlie Brown
There are dozens of bakeries in and around Halifax. I’m not sure why you think there are only two.