Bread-making becomes a performance at this Berlin bakery

The line between kitchen and cafe blurs at Berlin’s Sofi bakery, which opens the bread-making process up to onlookers.

Architects Mathias Mentze and Alexander Vedel Ottenstein wanted to emphasise the beauty and technical skill of baking and arranged Sofi’s floorplan around its oven – which means visitors to the bread shop can watch bakers shaping dough and fetching warm loaves.

The surrounding space emphasises this more theatrical take on bread-making thanks to its double-height ceiling – leftover from the building’s former days as a brick factory. Mentze and Vedel Ottenstein designed bespoke furniture for the interiors, such as wooden benches and stools and a long communal table located beneath shelves of wine and pickles. The pair collaborated with studio Dreimata and a team of carpenters to bring their vision to life.

The Berlin bakery and cafe is lit by an oversized wicker pendant, hung with a flower piece created by local artist Danh Vo, who used bast and hops as a reference to the beer production waste the bakery uses in its kitchen. As well as baguettes, rye bread and focaccia, Sofi serves up twice-baked blackberry and almond croissants and lemon tahini cookies.

Sophienstraße 21, 10178 Berlin, Germany

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