Mills along the Grand River and its tributaries were among the first buildings constructed by the early communities that make up the modern city of Cambridge.
The mills processed grains that were grown and harvested by local farmers and used to make bread and other products like those being made now by Daniel Angus, owner of Terroir Artisan Bakery.
“The name Terroir comes from the earth,” said Angus. “When you are smelling and tasting wine, you are talking about terroir, which is the earth, the sun, the elements, and how that all affects the flavour of the wine. So, when people are eating my bread and my pastries, they are tasting the terroir. That’s what Ontario tastes like.”
Angus thinks we have grown estranged from the earth and our dependence on imports has caused us to neglect our relationship with local food producers and the fertile ground beneath our feet. He is committed to renewing that relationship.
“I’m not going to France to buy flour,” he said. “I’m not going to the United States to get citrus. I’m using whatever we have around here. You’re tasting the amazing products we can produce here.”
He didn’t come to this realization overnight. His philosophy on food and the creation of Terroir Artisan Bakery are the culmination of years of searching both far and wide for the future of food.
“I’m from Barrie, Ontario,” he said. “During high school I worked in a local Italian place, but I didn’t have a passion for food yet, I think. I just loved working in restaurants. There is something about that intense hustle, the camaraderie. When I graduated high school, I moved away to immerse myself in Toronto culture and the culinary scene.”
Angus plays guitar and considered getting a degree in music but chose instead to enrol in the culinary management program at George Brown College.
“I went through an accelerated program and took my days off to go and stage at different restaurants and work with different chefs,” he said. “I volunteered at foodbanks, food festivals, farmers markets and just threw myself into it.”
During that time, he lost touch with friends and missed many family gatherings, but his parents remained supportive and encouraged him to embrace his passion while he was young.
“My father was an NHL referee and he taught me, ‘If you’re going to go for your dreams, you have to go headfirst,” Angus said. “There’s no turning back.”
When, Pangaea, the Toronto restaurant he worked at for six years abruptly closed, Angus found himself out of a job with an insatiable hunger to learn and grow as a chef.
“I was 21, 22 years old and I was like, ‘What do I do?’,” he recalled. “So, I packed my bags and went to New York City to stage at some of my bucket-list restaurants. I staged at Eleven Madison Park, Blue Hill at Stone Barn and Daniel just to get a feeling for the upper echelon of Michelin-Starred Cuisine.”
For those unfamiliar with culinary lingo, to stage, is to volunteer your services in exchange for the opportunity to work in high-end kitchens with world-renowned chefs. It’s the kind of experience ambitious chefs need to pad their resume and it prepared Angus to work at any restaurant in the world.
“While in New York I had this moment where I was planning to go to Europe or Scandinavia and figure out where in the world I was going to work, but I was drawn back to this place,” he said. “Ontario is so beautiful and there are so many great things about it. I don’t want to be a fly on the wall in the Paris kitchens. I want to create my own path here in Canada.”
He said good-bye to the Big Apple and headed home.
“I came back with no money to my name and moved back in with my parents for a few weeks to figure out what I was going to do,” said Angus. “That is where I found myself looking at Langdon Hall and another step in my cooking career.”
He moved to Cambridge to work at Langdon Hall in the spring of 2016 and that is where he met his wife.
“She worked with me at Langdon Hall for a couple years,” he said. “She is super supportive and comes from a culinary background as well so, she definitely understands and shares the crazy mindset of a culinary enthusiast.”
Working at Langdon Hall allowed him to indulge that crazy, culinary mindset but he was still searching.
“It wasn’t until the pandemic that I had some time to sit down and think,” said Angus. “How can I take all my experiences and the things I’ve been taught from my mentors and craft my own philosophy on cuisine sustainability and the future of food?”
That’s when he launched Terroir Artisan Bakery and started baking.
In the beginning he was renting a ghost kitchen in Brantford, but, due to growing demand, he has moved the baking operation to 1111 Franklin Blvd in Cambridge where he is sharing a kitchen with Cambridge native, fellow baker and founder of Lady Glaze Donuts, Mark Brown.
“I have been lucky to make some amazing relationships with farmers and food producers in the area,” said Angus. “I think my job really is to promote them and do justice to the work they do.”
Everything is baked fresh using local ingredients.
“The croissant isn’t stuffed with chocolate,” said Angus. “It is stuffed with local berry jam. You will never find me making pain au chocolat or lemon tarts. It just won’t happen because that’s not the taste of terroir.”
It is not only good for the local economy but the environment as well.
“I have a daughter and I want her to have a beautiful Earth to live in and I want her kids to have a beautiful Earth to live in,” said Angus. “If we don’t think consciously of these things and how to reduce our carbon footprint on a day-to-day basis with our daily choices, things will never improve.”
Angus believes Ontario and Canada have the resources to lead the world into the future of food and he is excited to be a part of it..
“I am still working full time at Langdon Hall and any other time you can find me at the gym, at the bakery or with my wife,” said Angus. “The goal for us is to bring both of us together into this business in the future. It would be my dream to have the two of us join forces. She is an incredible help behind the scenes and certainly my number one supporter. One day we will do this together when we expand.”
