Best Things to Eat: Prairie Loaf from Brio Bakery

Angela Larson, owner of Swish Vintage, has traveled across the world, yet the best bread she’s ever tasted is made in Edmonton.

“I’ve traveled to Europe and Italy, and places where you would think that you could find better and I still find it pretty hard to rival the Prairie Loaf at Brio Bakery,” says Larson. “The owner, Todd (Barraclough), has got it down, pat.”

Brio Bakery’s Prairie Loaf is the bakery’s signature bread, made of organic white flour, organic whole wheat flour, water and salt. Brio uses a style of bread making called “levain,” also known as a type of sourdough.

“I am also an admitted gluten intolerant person, and there’s something about sourdough and the fermentation process that makes it much more digestible,” says Larson. “I thought I had won the lottery. I was smitten from the first day.”

Before it found its current home in the Oliver Exchange building, Brio Bakery got its start at the Downtown Farmer’s Market, back when it was on 104th Street. That’s where Larson discovered them, and she says she never missed a Saturday market. Now, she visits the bakery every few weeks to stock up.

“The prairie loaf is kind of like the food of the gods, the bread and butter,” says Larson. “It’s the one thing that I would consistently say that I eat all the time.”