Flour is power.
Almanac is an urban stone mill, bakery and café in Ottawa. We mill Canadian heritage grain into fresh, flavourful flour; bake naturally leavened bread and pastries; and aim to bring people together around a shared love of great food and drink.
The mill is in the middle.
While working in restaurants, Almanac founder Gaby Prud’homme saw enormous care given to finding the best local ingredients. But flour—the foundation of every loaf, pastry and cake—was almost always treated as an afterthought.
Following this passion, Gaby has spent years working directly with farmers growing distinctive varieties of Canadian grain and learning how to mill them with care and attention. Almanac opened its first bakery in 2021. Grain came in, flour and bread went out and, little by little, a community gathered around it.
Today, our mill sits at the centre of our Little Italy bakery, visible from the café and only a few metres from the ovens. It is also in the middle of a much bigger chain, connecting healthy soil to the farmer, the farmer to our bakers and the food we make to the community gathered around our tables.
Flour should taste like something.
Grain, like coffee or wine, carries the flavour of its variety, the place it was grown and the season it grew through. Industrial flour is designed for consistency. We mill to bring those differences forward.
The whole kernel is crushed between two granite stones, preserving more of its natural oils, nutrients, aroma and character. We adjust the stones, keep them dressed and running true, and work closely with our bakers to understand how each flour performs.
They think of our kitchen as a flour and bread lab. Fresh-milled flour has a mind of its own, so a recipe is only the beginning. Our bakers pay attention, experiment and work with great care to bring out the best in every grain.
Good food. Better farming.
Our mission is to deliver good food by supporting better farming.
Most of our grain is certified organic. What isn’t is grown chemical-free using regenerative practices that protect soil health, encourage diversity and conserve the land for future generations.
Our flour is fresh, unbleached and contains no added dough conditioners—no benzoyl peroxide, azodicarbonamide or added L-cysteine here.
Every bag of flour we mill and everything our bakers make (and every cookie you eat) helps sustain demand for thoughtfully grown grain and the small-scale infrastructure that connects Canadian farms to local tables.
That connection is what Almanac is here to strengthen: from soil to grain, mill to bakery, and bakery to community.
The delicious part comes first. The rest comes with it.
