“Stunning, traditional, authentic” – that is how some visitors describe the bread at Le Fournil de Saint-Robert, a small bakery in a south-western French village.
Local residents and travellers alike are reportedly drawn to the bakery, whose aroma of wood-fired sourdough wafts into the cobbled streets and whose products and services have garnered it an average of 4.7 stars over 67 reviews on Google.
The man behind it all is 51-year-old Singaporean Ewan Irwan.
Originally from Tampines, he worked in the engineering sector before meeting his then wife, Sophie, a Frenchwoman, in Singapore.
In 2003, they moved to France, hoping to build a life together. Engineering jobs proved elusive, but a new calling soon emerged: bread-making.
“Baking here is on another level. Most bakers are so dedicated to their craft,” he told The Straits Times on Sept 5.
Determined to master the art, Mr Ewan enrolled in a one-year diploma course in Lyon and spent two years in professional bakeries, learning the traditions and techniques of French baking.
Yet the hustle and bustle of city life never suited him.
It was during a surfing trip along France’s west coast that he discovered Saint-Robert, a mediaeval village recognised as one of France’s most beautiful. It is located in the Correze region of south-west France, about 470km south of Paris.
The pace of life, the centuries-old architecture and the opportunity to run an existing bakery with a wood-fired oven convinced him this could be home.
Mr Ewan Irwan bakes bread every morning.
PHOTO: EWAN IRWAN
By 2007, he had taken over the bakery, and for the past 18 years, he has baked each loaf with meticulous, old-school care.
The bakery, he said, has existed since the 1940s. The previous owner, who was retiring, sold the business to Mr Ewan and, more importantly, entrusted the sourdough starter – which Mr Ewan says is over 70 years old – to the Singaporean.
But running a bakery is relentless. At 2am in France, as he was giving replies to ST, he was still at work.
“I work late at night, when I do all the breads and pastries. I (also) do all my pastries in the afternoon and the sourdough starter has to be fed,” he said.
In the summer months, when tourists abound and demand goes up, “I have only four hours of sleep every night”, he added.
“During summer, items are sometimes sold out by noon. In summer, I never have any leftovers.”
He takes five weeks of holidays every year, when he returns to Singapore and sometimes visits other parts of Asia.
“In this job, one has to be very passionate. It is very tough but satisfying,” he said.
“When you see your customers and tourists (in summer) and they say they like what you make, it is very satisfying.
“They talk to me about my life and ask what I am doing here – an Asian guy working in France as a baker.”
He rarely sees other Asians in Saint-Robert, which he called “secluded”.
“Asians who visit my bakery are usually friends,” he said.
Reportedly the only bakery in Saint-Robert, Le Fournil has a wood-fired oven where the bread is freshly baked.
PHOTO: EWAN IRWAN
Those who have left reviews, either in the past or in the present, have praised Mr Ewan’s baked goods and the bakery’s service.
“The bread is excellent… it’s so far from the bread we’re sold today,” read one review. Another rated the breads “exceptional”.
“A baker who listens to his customers and didn’t hesitate to show me around the bakehouse and immerse me in his passion through his lively, detailed explanations,” said a reviewer of Mr Ewan.
Another review from three years ago called him “a baker like we don’t meet many any more, passionate and fascinating”.
His wood-fired oven is a huge draw. “Every summer, there are people who visit my oven at 3am just to observe.”
Yet, he said, he was surprised when several news outlets reached out, intrigued by the story on social news platform Says about a Singaporean mastering French tradition in a tiny village.
Patrons of Le Fournil de Saint-Robert enjoy freshly baked bread each day.
PHOTO: EWAN IRWAN
Eighteen years on, Mr Ewan continues to wake before dawn, tend the wood-fired oven and bake sourdough.
He told ST that he treasures the lifestyle, the “calm and quiet, with a balanced work-life”.
His patrons certainly hope so, with a review from a grateful customer from eight months ago urging him to “keep it up for a long time”.
Mr Ewan says he has no plans to expand his business for now, telling ST: “For the moment I am happy to have what I have.”
Although he did leave a delicious hint, adding: “Maybe in future I would consider going back to Singapore to set up a shop.”
