The Vanguard of Global Cuisine

With an area of 82,770 square feet, Harvard Square is a very small place. Home to Harvard College, the Square is a hub of energy for intellectuals and entrepreneurs, artists and scientists. And within this small yet far reaching world, there are numerous institutions that contribute to the intensely calibrated cafe and bakery culture of the collegiate community. From the chic but busy boutique cafes of Blue Bottle and Tatte to the classics like Peet’s and J.P. Licks, there is one place that seems to evade all other competition: Flour Bakery.

On the backstreets of Harvard Square, the famous Flour Bakery rests silently behind big glass windows that look out onto Mt. Auburn Street. In the early morning, cyclists and joggers pass the bakery on their way to busy Memorial Drive, and, nearby, crew shells drift quietly down the calm Charles River, and the Canadian geese graze by the old River Houses.

From the exterior, Flour Bakery is understated and sleek, composed and collected. Peering inside, passersby wouldn’t be able to fathom the bustling vitality that exists on the other side of the glass — the muffled voices hardly travel through the panels. Yet, by just peering through the windows, customers are lured in by the unmistakable sense of life.

Antibes. 1965.

Mornings in Antibes start early. The sea winds that roll through the narrow streets of the old French town warm quickly under the heavy sun. The growing light sinks into the chipped stone houses and their earthen rooftops, warming with the day. Big-bellied pots, also terracotta, host blooms of Indian laurels, hyacinths, and lemon trees and line the narrow streets; the leaves rustle in the fragrant winds.

An old church sits on the sea’s edge.
Lapping waves caress the tall seawall.
Dried salt collects on the windows of the old town.

Apollonia Poilâne ’07 sat at the table in her office, a simple room with stacked books on the windowsills, clean white walls, simple furniture, simple art. A small dog slept nuzzled in a blanket on the couch. Light flooded in through the large glass windows. The room was bright, spacious, sparse.

“This is my family’s bakery, and we’ve been around since 1932,” said Poilâne in an interview with The Crimson.

Legacy. History. Institution.