Gebroeders Niemeijer

Gebroeders Niemeijer is a French bakery with a café on the Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam, founded in 2008 by two brothers, where the loaves are shaped by hand and baked on a stone oven floor.

The sourdough loaves (batard, boules, fougasse, walnut breads) rise on their own levain rather than yeast for about 18 to 24 hours, and according to their website contain only organic stone-ground French flour, water and unrefined French sea salt, with no added fat, milk powder or bread improver. The baguettes instead take a little yeast and Label Rouge flour. They also make croissants with ordinary rather than laminating butter, patisserie without colourings or flavourings, jams and granola; which mill supplies the flour, we couldn't confirm.

The shop is closed on Monday and open Tuesday to Friday from 08:15, Saturday from 08:30 and Sunday from 09:00, until 17:00 each day. Rye is baked to order and stollen at Christmas and Easter; next-day orders go by email before noon, since each loaf takes two days from mixing to bake.

The levain is refreshed every day with flour and water, which keeps one culture of wild yeasts and bacteria going, so the bread tastes slightly different from day to day.