211-B  Waimairi  Rd,  Ilam, Christchurch,  New Zealand  Ph: +64  03  358-9020

Thank you for visiting our website.

Owning my own bakery has been a life-long dream for me. I've wanted to be a baker since I was a boy.

For me, the name of our bakery evokes many happy memories of growing up in Sercoeur, a small village in Les Vosges (Lorraine), north-east France.

My love for village baking grew from watching my mother in the kitchen. 

She, like the other country women in our village, usually baked something for the family every day. It wasn't anything flash or over-the-top —it might be a simple tart—but because she made her own pastry and used the best local fruits, it always tasted special. 

I have carried these principles with me all my culinary life. 

At fifteen, I started my baker’s training and apprenticeship in the town of Rambervillers, and gained my Certificat d’Aptitude Professionelle there.

I worked around my region in France, Luxembourg and Germany, before a thirst for adventure drew me across the world to New Zealand in 1989.

While working in New Zealand, I met my wife Tracy and we have made the lovely city of Christchurch our home.

The Village Bakehouse opened its doors in Ilam in April 1999 with me doing the baking, ably supported by an invaluable team of two. Thank you, Rachael and Andrea! 

The response has been better than I could have imagined. Thanks to our current team at the bakery, and a heartfelt thank-you to all our customers, who have given me and my baking a chance. Salut!

Thierry Didierjean

©Village Bakehouse Ltd 2017