Before Guillaume Gras became a baker, he taught mathematics. Now he rises at midnight twice a week to bake traditional sourdough loaves at his new Eugene bakery, La Mouette Bread Shop, which opened in August.
True to his former profession, Gras has an equation written on a chalkboard above his bread shelves. He won’t reveal what it means, because if someone understands it, they get a free loaf.
Underneath the math equation, is a more universally understood phrase: “Dough, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”
Underneath that, in French, is written “Le chemin vers la quiétude n’est pas un chemin de tout repos,” or, “The path to tranquility is not an easy one.”
A wandering path to bread
Gras grew up in Nice, France, then finished his studies and taught math for several years at a university in Canada before trading in equations for a more nomadic lifestyle. He traveled through Eastern Europe, and then to Egypt, where he worked on an archaeological project for four years…