On a quiet residential street in the heart of Belair, you could be forgiven for walking straight past Open Crumb, if you didn't know better. But with queues during opening hours and a multitude of hopeful customers knocking on the door during our hour-long meeting, this is clearly a case of 'if you know, you know' – and boy do the residents of Belair know about this small but beautiful artisanal bakery.
Keen to understand the journey that led Open Crumb's founders to opening their own bakery in Belair, Robin started by explaining that she moved to Luxembourg from the States in 2017 for her work as a lawyer. Her husband Tiago moved from Portugal a couple of years later, for his work as a tennis coach.
They did not know each other at the time.
They started dating, having met through tennis, and quickly began dreaming about what would one day become Open Crumb. Both shared a passion for baking and they had a vision of running a bakery for the neighbourhood.
With this dream in mind, they left their jobs and relocated to Paris to train as bakers – an experience they reflect on as a life-changing one.
During their time in Paris, they were travelling back and forth to Luxembourg, both for family reasons and to search for a location for their bakery. When this spot in Belair came up, it was just what they had in mind.
It became apparent very quickly that Robin and Tiago are not looking for an easy life: the location needed to be made fit for purpose – a long and challenging task, as it had not been used for similar purposes before – with the couple doing everything themselves (everything, that is, apart from designing the logo), whilst also baking off-site and meeting with and selecting small, local suppliers.
When asked how many hours a day they work, Tiago laughed and jokingly said "it's probably easier to count the hours of sleep we get''. They acknowledge it's exhausting but were clear they wouldn't have it any other way.
Robin and Tiago's dream is to have a "bakery for everyone", with Luxembourgish roots at the core, and they have these values firmly in mind when creating the menu.
In terms of the meaning behind the bakery's name, Robin explained that open crumb refers to the "real expression of the bread. It's not a technical term but it is a known term of art in sourdough baking. It's the manifestation of a properly fermented, artisanally-made loaf of bread."
An apt name for a bakery representing the artisanal movement.
She elaborated that "a big part behind the name was to really get at what we go after in terms of the craft of boulangerie, but then also for us as a concept of what we stand for and being really open with our process. That's why you can see everything. Everything is made here."
Indeed, they've succeeded in creating the openness that is so important to them. As soon as you step foot inside the bakery you can see straight through the kitchen to the beautiful, enormous oven at the back.
They choose to work with Luxembourgish and local suppliers where possible, and Robin emotionally explained that this is so "great because it's a little bit of our love letter to Luxembourg". Unsurprisingly, Robin and Tiago love living in the Grand Duchy and really call it home.
They have chosen each supplier personally, and as Tiago proudly explained, in his search for a specific flour for his Pain Complet, he found a Belgian miller who agreed to produce flour just for this product.
By using only natural flours with no additives or corrections, Tiago acknowledged that this "makes our lives as bakers more demanding – more fun – but more demanding". But this also forms part of their core value and is worth the extra work.
Robin laughed when recounting how customers ask whether they plan to open a second location, saying "let us get settled first". Whilst they can imagine one day moving to the north of Luxembourg and relocating their bakery there for a slower pace of life, they are certainly not ready for that yet.
Their much shorter-term ambition is to be able to open the bakery six days a week. They are currently open Thursday – Sunday, whilst they hire and train their full team, but are not far off being able to open six days a week.
Keen to do things well, and not rushed, they've taken their time to choose their team, and are passionate about teaching as they go on training the next generation of bakers.
