German Restaurant to Go Organic

"Le Pain Quotidien The Belgian chain Le Pain Quotidien (Our Daily Bread) cultivates naturalness, and this is the reason why more and more of the ingredients it has used since 2005 have been organic. The chain now has more than 80 stores in 12 countries and it is continuing to grow in terms of both quality and quantity. Every two months a new restaurant with integrated baker’s shop comes on stream.

Le Pain Quotidien “17 years ago, Alain Coumont was putting a large communal table in his shop and the people sat down around it.” This is how Harry De Landtsheer recounts the original idea of the founder of Le Pain Quotidien. The baker’s plus restaurant is still there in the Rue Dansaert in Brussels (see picture on left). The basic idea of eating good food together has not changed either. Mr Coumont quickly recognized that people not only wanted more and more to eat out but that they also wanted things to be natural. So the combined shops and restaurants have plain furniture made of pine; the metal or glass lamps are simple and the shelving for bread and bakery goods are old style. Often the floor is wooden too, a natural material under the feet of all who enter that shapes their perception of where they are. Wherever possible, the company tries to incorporate natural features in the spatial design, an example being the restoration of a stone wall in their premises in Paris (see picture on right)."

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