4 Must-try bakeries in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal
5 Minute Read
It’s hard to sugarcoat today’s economic reality: With a weak Canadian dollar, travel is simply more expensive. The good news is that when it comes to decadent desserts, you don’t have to travel the globe –– we have incredible options at bakeries in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.
Elina Patisserie
Where: 443A Sussex Dr., Ottawa, ON
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Craving the perfect Paris-Brest? Look no further than Elina Patisserie, a European-inspired pastry shop on Sussex Drive.
“I was baking with my grandmother when I was a kid,” says owner Elina Olefirenko. “She was the first and very important influence in my memories of the high standard for the quality of taste and work, precision and resilience.”
Elina Patisserie opened in late 2022. Olefirenko is masterful at crafting beloved classics—like Vanilla Basque Cheesecake, Honey Cake, and Sacher–Torte—with breath-taking precision. She also creates shiny, dome-shaped desserts filled with chocolate mousse and fruit.
“Our Passion Fruit-Mango dessert components are passion fruit-white chocolate mousse, and the mango filling is fresh mangoes that we caramelize,” Olefirenko explains, adding she develops her own recipes. “I put a lot of time into perfecting every item that we sell, balancing flavours and textures.”
The shop sources fruit purées from France, pistachio paste from Italy, chocolate from France and Belgium, and sour cherry from Poland. Fresh fruit and dairy products come from Canadian producers, with organic honey and maple syrup from Quebec.
Olefirenko finished her formal training at Le Cordon Bleu, which she views as “a good base for setting a French standard and approach.” However, she says she continues to learn from different chefs worldwide.
“The process of learning cannot stop,” she says. “I think my main formal training is non-stop work, long days, learning from my own work, experiments, analyzing. Only through continuous work –– the skill, creativity and style can develop.”
Dolci Sapori Italian Bakery & Café
Where: 939 Somerset St. W., Ottawa, ON
When it comes to dessert, Francesca Bellantone and her husband, Roberto Cucinotta, are bringing the taste of southern Italy to Ottawa.
“We bring something from Italy, and we bring it here,” says Bellantone, adding that she and Cucinotta grew up in Calabria before moving to Canada nine years ago. “I think our customers feel our passion for old traditions.”
Dolci Sapori Italian Bakery & Café opened in August 2024. The name means “sweet flavours” in Italian, says Bellantone.
“My kids chose the name,” she says, referring to her three sons. Cucinotta is the pastry chef; he was inspired to bake by his own father.
“My father-in-law is a pastry chef,” explains Bellantone, adding the family still has a bakery back in Calabria. “Roberto follows the recipes for the old traditional desserts.”
One such traditional treat is “Zeppola,” which resembles a cream-filled, doughnut sandwich. Traditionally served as part of “La Festa di San Giuseppe”—Father’s Day in Italy—the bakery offers four different flavours.
“The traditional [zeppola] is with ricotta cheese or vanilla,” says Bellantone. “But customers love our pistachio cream and Ferrero Rocher cream.”
Babà—a sponge cake soaked in syrup and filled with custard—is another traditional treat. Of course, the shop also has cannoli and at least a dozen different flavours of fresh biscotti on display. Bellantone says that pistachio chocolate, almond, apricot, and cinnamon are the most popular.
“The biscotti is our traditional recipe from grandma,” she says. Bellantone says she’s honoured when her Italian clients tell her they are reminded of home.
“Our customers say they feel like they’re in Italy.”
Vanilla Bite Bakery
Where: 389 Front St W, Toronto, ON
Vanilla Bite Bakery co-founders Kevin Allan and Dannah Melad have been blissfully unaffected by looming U.S. tariff threats—since the bakery sources its ingredients almost exclusively from Canada.
“We've been very insulated from a lot of macroeconomic forces by working with smaller, local producers,” explains Allan from the downtown Toronto bakery, which opened in September 2024. He and Melad—partners in life and in business—have developed intriguing and uniquely Canadian offerings.
“Our mission was to do something that could only be made here,” says Allan. “It ties into the whole concept of giving Canadians something to be proud of.”
Bakery items—always made fresh daily by Melad, the duo's pastry chef—often include foraged ingredients.
“Today on the menu, we have a wild blueberry and spruce tip tartlet,” says Allan. “Spruce tips are the soft bristles at the end of a spruce tree.”
They also offer a cake made with candy cap mushrooms. “Those are a dried mushroom that we get from Newfoundland that have a super strong maple aroma,” says Allan.
Vanilla Bite Bakery is also a go-to spot for cookies. Inspired by family members with celiac disease, Allan and Melad developed their own gluten-free cookie recipes that didn’t compromise on flavour and texture. The bakery offers chocolate chip cookies—made with dark chocolate from ChocoSol Traders in Toronto—and maple toffee cookies; the homemade toffee is made with dark maple syrup from Forbes Wild Foods near Goderich, ON.
“People are just kind of obsessed with them,” says Allan of their cookies.
Vegâteau
Where: 1215 Mont-Royal Ave E, Montreal, QC
Marc-Olivier Gendron and Jermy Yuen are on a mission to prove that gluten-free, vegan desserts don’t have to compromise on taste.
“Both gluten-free and vegan products often have a reputation of not being as great as their counterparts, and it's our job to make them pleasant for everyone who eats them,” explains Gendron, who co-founded Vegâteau with Yuen.
The couple opened their bricks-and-mortar pastry shop in May 2021, after starting out as a home bakery in 2019. Gendron explains that their slogan is “responsible tastiness.”
“Plant-based products have a lower carbon footprint, so as a whole, our products have a better impact on the environment and society than their more traditional counterparts,” says Gendron.
Vegâteau sold cupcakes exclusively during its first year, but Gendron says the store’s location, in the heart of Plateau Mont-Royal, has inspired it to expand into French pastries. The shop’s bestsellers include layered cakes, such as the classic Opera Cake, Paris-Brest—made with homemade hazelnut mousseline—tarts, and macarons.
This summer, Vegâteau will be serving homemade soft-serve ice cream, made with organic coconut milk infused with Madagascar vanilla beans, with the option to cover it in chocolate.
Looking ahead, the ambitious pair plans to begin wholesaling some of their delicious treats.
“Don’t be surprised if you see some of our treats in a grocery store in the next few years,” says Gendron.
Which spot will you try first?
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