Le Fournil de Sébastien Hilversum

Le Fournil de Sébastien is a French bakery on the Gijsbrecht van Amstelstraat in Hilversum, one of three shops (the others are in Amsterdam and Amstelveen) run by a baker who worked in his family's bakery in the Vendée until 2007 and makes everything from scratch, without bread improvers or ready-made mixes.

All the bread is made with a liquid sourdough starter that is fed every day, and the dough rises for 18 to 24 hours, mostly at room temperature; a small amount of yeast is also used, under 1% per kilo of dough. Loaves are shaped by hand and baked in a stone-floor oven. For the einkorn and emmer breads and the Integral wholemeal wheat loaf, the bakery mills its own flour on small millstones. Much of the white bread uses Tradition française flour, which may contain no additives and may not be frozen, with only water, salt and starter or yeast added. There are also rye, spelt and buckwheat breads, alongside baguettes, croissants, madeleines, canelés and tarts.

The Hilversum shop is open Monday to Saturday from 7:00 to 19:00 and closed on Sunday; the einkorn and emmer loaves are also sold through the bakery's webshop.

The owners have chosen to stay at three shops so the production can stay largely by hand.