It's 6 a.m. and the streets are quiet and still dark in downtown Penticton. At this time of day during this time of year, there are no parking hassles and you need your headlights.
But there's something going on in the old art deco post office building at 301 Main. You can see it through the windows. Here, in the big commercial space that makes up most of the ground floor, the lights are on and there's a large man, dressed in white, clearly engaged in physical activity.
His name is Jan Petrasek, and he's doing what he's done all his adult life. He's baking. With a flourish.
It's like a scene out of the animated 2007 Pixar flick Ratatouille. In the movie, the hero creates food with a passion normally reserved for performance artists and ballet dancers. He loses himself in the process, flitting hither and thither, rolling and pounding ingredients together, and always experimenting with new takes on time-tested recipes.
And so it is with Petrasek. Today is the grand opening of the business that's so important to him, and in just three hours the doors will open and he finally gets the chance to show Penticton what a true artist can do.
In Petrasek Bakery, Jan and wife Sylvia Peteraskova aim to bring boutique, made-from-scratch, European baked goods to the Okanagan. And they have the experience and the enthusiasm to write their own success story.
Originally from Slovakia, the couple have made their way around the world to end up here in Penticton.
"I've worked at bakeries in Italy, in Israel, in the Czech Republic, in my country, in German bakeries, and had my own bakery in Calgary for nine years," says the 43-year-old Petrasek, who, at a solid 6-foot-four, looks more like a football player than a baker.
After their nine-year Calgary stint, Jan, Sylvia and their two children moved back to Slovakia. He says he found the Calgary winters "depressing." But his kids were born in Canada and they struggled mightily with the language in Slovakia.
In the end, Penticton won out. They remembered a vacation they'd taken here and how much they'd enjoyed themselves, and ultimately "bought a house over the Internet."
Petrasek explains that the new bakery reflects not just a specific part of European baking, but all of it. He talks about the differences between the Nordic countries and the southern countries, and how the weather and the grains produce unique approaches and unique results.
"We try to bring all of the parts here. We have light or heavy rye, we have focaccia, we have nice baguettes, white bread made with olive oil, different types of pastries, croissants, and much more."
At Petrasek Bakery, everything is made from scratch, in house.
"We don't use chemicals. We use organic flour in most of our baked goods. There are no chemicals or additives. It's healthy. We try to give the people good product. This is what I know, and that's why I choose to do it,” he says.
And, everything is fermented."Fermentation brings the flavour. It makes the sweetness and the sour and the saltiness come together."
He says that it takes them more than a week to make sourdough.
Petrasek also says they'll consistently put new items on the menu. "We're a small boutique bakery, and we can be very flexible. And I like doing different things - not just with the season, but in the way that we make bread. Combining things together in different ways. I like to play with all this stuff."
The investment wasn't cheap. Petrasek figures he dropped $100,000 so far, including a stack of state-of-the-art, British-made Mono ovens.
The space looks incredible. The old brick walls remain, and the couple have adorned the bakery with period pieces that make you feel like you've stepped back in time.
And, if you feel like eating in rather than taking your goodies home, you can do that too. Petrasek Bakery features several Parisian-style tables and chair sets scattered throughout the premises.
Situated at 101 - 310 Main Street, Petrasek Bakery is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Check their Facebook page or call 236-422-1400 for more information.
Or better yet, just get yourself down there. We sampled the light rye and several scrumptious pastries and can vouch that Jan and Sylvia know exactly how to make you happy.
