bake - September 2017 - 44

breads

LOCAL IMPACT

Clear Flour Bread may occupy a tiny footprint in the residential

the couple has taken to Europe over the years, which Abe says,

neighborhood near Boston where it operates, but the artisan

"really opened our eyes to new ﬂavors and textures."

bakery has made a huge impact.
Spending a month in France on a few occasions, Abe and
After introducing the authentic breads of France, Germany and

Christy would stop at small artisan bakeries to hang out, learn

Italy to the area in the early 1980s, the award-winning bakery and

and observe. They were surprised at the openness and hospi-

its owners have developed a special connection with those in their

tality extended to them as bakers would often invite them in

community and are inﬂuencing a new generation of bakers.

and share their "secrets."

The bakery's origins date back to 1983 when Christy Timon

The couple's passion for time-honored traditions and quality

started Clear Flour, somewhat reluctantly as her husband Abe

ingredients shines through in the bakery's vast array of ﬂaky

Faber describes it. Christy was running a bustling catering busi-

croissants, beautiful baguettes, boules, batards and crusty

ness at the time but her customers were increasingly asking

loaves. Fresh, ﬂavorful and baked to the perfect consistency and

about her amazing sourdough breads, with the crackling crusts,

texture, Clear Flour's baked goods have the neighborhood lining

and wanting more. Abe shares, "at one point, customers began

up outside the door and are the envy of others in the baking

to ask what's the name of your bakery?"

community who are now returning to Old World techniques.

At the time, Christy already had the location in Brookline, part

"Clear Flour is such a well-known, respected artisan bakery in

of greater Boston, where Clear Flour stands today. She was us-

the industry," says Art Posch, a sales representative from Gen-

ing the space for catering; however, she soon transitioned it to

eral Mills Foodservice, which supplies the bakery with Harvest

a wholesale bakery to keep up with demand for her bread. Abe,

King ﬂour. "Abe is very knowledgeable and loves his craft and

who knew Christy from art school, began to help out at the

takes a lot of pride in Clear Flour's product and craftsmanship."

bakery making deliveries and doing what he could to relieve
Christy who was working 16-hour days. He eventually started to

Outside of Clear Flour, Abe has been a key player in the artisan

manage more of the day-to-day operations as business grew

baking community, particularly through his involvement with

and added retail sales to the mix. The couple married in 1989.

the Bread Bakers Guild of America, where he served on the
board from 2000-2011.

"No one was really doing what we were doing," said Abe when
referring to the artisan bread and traditional styles of baking

During his tenure, he is credited for transforming the organiza-

that Clear Flour was becoming known for. Today, the bak-

tion's vision and capacity for education and was instrumental in

ery remains committed to using simple ingredients that they

developing a "community" of artisan bakers.

"scratch mix and hand shape into long fermented doughs for
stone hearth baking." Since the beginning, Clear Flour's success

"My work with the Guild allowed me to give back and share

can be attributed to its steadfast dedication to preserving the

all the knowledge we amassed during our decades of work at

art and craft of bread making, honed in part from several trips

our own little corner bakery," said Abe. "It provided the best of

44 < SEP 2017 | bakemag.com

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