The boulangerie. I never thought we would get a French bakery in Bozeman, much less one run by a native Parisian. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to experience the tiny corner bakeries of Paris, you know why I’m thrilled about Aurore Bakery. Using largely French ingredients and techniques, Aurore provides Bozeman with another option for our croissants, baguettes, and pastries. The other day I met with Aurore Adam, owner and namesake of the beautiful petite eatery, now with two locations, to learn the story of her flourishing business.

Katie Thomas: First, tell us a little bit about yourself – where in France are you from, and what brought you to Montana?

Aurore Adams: I am from Paris, and what brought me here was my twin sister, Alison. She was living here and I visited her in March 2020. Then because of Covid, I got stuck here for three months, which was amazing, because I was not locked down in my small apartment in Paris. I got to discover the Montana lifestyle; I learned how to ski and mountain bike. I really loved everything about Bozeman.

KT: Did you grow up baking?

AA: No. I had been a real estate agent for six years in Paris, which is something that you cannot do in the U.S. if you’re not American. So I decided that I wanted to open a bakery, because during those three months here, I was going to bakeries, and I found that Bozeman is too big for only a few places. In France, we have about 35,000 bakeries, so for this size of town we would have 21 bakeries. I felt there was a market for another, and I also really wanted to share my culture. I think people are waiting for that – every time there is a new restaurant opening, people are curious about it.

KT: How was Aurore Bakery conceptualized?

AA: Someone told me that if I wanted to be successful here, I should find something that Americans wouldn’t be able to do. Not because they’re not good at it, but because I’m French. If, for example, an American moved to France and opened a smash burger food truck, that would be legit. And I didn’t know how much I loved bakeries and eating out before I moved here and craved diversity. In Paris, you have all the food choices in the world, and I thought we needed more here. And it’s getting better; I feel like we are very lucky to have all these people coming here, bringing their craft and sharing their cultures.

KT: Describe your other location – we are sitting in the lobby of the Baxter Hotel now, next to your café location, but you have a larger bakery near Four Corners as well.

AA: We opened the main bakery in May 2023. That is the original location, where all the ingredients are delivered, and everything is baked and stored. We have a sitting area, plus outside seating for when it’s hot enough – although we could almost be there right now! We have all the production within the warehouse; everything is open and customers can see us work.

KT: What is your capacity there?

AA: It’s about 18, plus outside. When we’re doing events, we put out more chairs just for the day.

KT: What would you like people to experience when they walk through your doors?

AA: That they feel they have traveled to France. The smell of the bakery hits you as soon as you walk in; we have French music going on at all times, and we try to be very good at hospitality and customer service. I’d like people to feel as if they’re really sitting around a table with their French friends, just hanging out. That’s something that’s different about the culture here – everyone is on a schedule, whereas in France, people will just go have a coffee at 2 p.m. for no real reason and sit around with their friends. You talk about everything in your life and just be with each other.

KT: So true. In addition to this vibe, what would you say makes Aurore unique in the Bozeman food scene?

AA: Authenticity. We bring in lots of ingredients from France. Gluten-intolerant people can have our food because the grain in French flour is ancient and has not been modified over the years. After the wheat has been cut, there is nothing else added. If you look at the ingredients printed on a French bag of flour, all it will say is “wheat.” In the U.S., the back of the bag will usually say “wheat,” plus a lot of additives. The French flour also makes your digestion easier because the gluten in this flour is softer. I’ve experienced that myself. Another difference specifically is the taste of sourdough – ours is more lactic and less acidic than American sourdough.

KT: Do you work with any local purveyors whom you’d like to shout out?

AA: Yes! We use Front Porch Chocolate from Livingston. The ham on the ham and cheese croissant is from Daniel’s Gourmet Meats. All our teas are from Lake Missoula Tea Company. The people at these companies are so easy to work with, very accommodating, always trying to be helpful. They bring a lot of brainstorming and ideas to the table. 

KT: What drinks are included on your menu?

AA: We have coffees, teas, decaf, chai, matcha. Our coffee beans are from Tanat Coffee, an award-winning company owned by a friend of mine. I actually brought one of my first baristas to France to train with him. I wish I could take my whole team every year, but now there are about 15 of us.

KT: What menu item do regulars keep coming back for?

AA: The “Croinamon.” It’s a classic cinnamon roll combined with a croissant. Many Americans have the memory of the Cinnabon fresh out of the oven when they were kids, so this is my take on making it French.

KT: Do you personally have a favorite menu item?

AA: The chocolate croissant. You cannot go wrong with that. And the fruit tartelettes that we are making, and the Parisian sandwich.

KT: What’s on that sandwich?

AA: That is butter, whole grain French mustard, ham from Daniel’s, tomato, lettuce, Cornichons.

KT: Oh my goodness – I have to have that.

AA: Yes, it’s very good.

KT: This is making me hungry. What do you enjoy most about being part of the Bozeman community?

AA: Everything! This community is so kind. With all that is happening in the world, I feel that I’m protected here, even as an immigrant. My experience has been that when they see that you work hard, when you have ambition and you want to create something, people will usually be supportive and happy that you’re here. I am employing mostly Americans, and I’m very proud of their work and that we’re able to pay them for that. Also, it’s nice because people have started to recognize me – at the grocery store, at the restaurant, and it just feels good. This reminds me why I do what I do.

KT: Do you have any special events coming up?

AA: I want to organize an Easter egg hunt in Bozeman for Easter, where there are golden eggs hidden around different downtown businesses with gift cards to the bakery. Something like that. We have our Bastille Day celebration every year; this year we’ll celebrate on July 12th, a Sunday. Kids are welcome, and usually we have a bouncy house, little swimming pools outside, a DJ, prizes, and champagne.

KT: What’s the best way for people to follow your events?

AA: On Instagram, @aurorefrenchbakery and @cafeaurorebozeman.

KT: Anything else you’d like readers to know about Aurore?

AA: Yes, two things: one, in a couple weeks we’ll be on Uber Eats and DoorDash. Second, my team is my success. The most difficult thing about running a business is finding good people, and when you find good people who care, this is amazing. I really enjoy going to the bakery every day because of them.

I would enjoy going to Aurore Bakery every day too, but I fear I’d never leave. It would be so easy to just embrace the French way, as Aurore described, and sit around for hours, sampling one of everything. One warning about that: things sell out pretty quickly, especially that Croinamon. Serious panophiles should arrive before 9 a.m., especially on the weekends. My husband and I learned the hard way the other day – we rolled in around 11 a.m. on a Sunday, and there wasn’t a Croinamon in sight. But luckily, there were plenty of airy baguettes, delectable almond croissants, and rich Tanat Coffee. We savored our breakfast and imagined we had that certain je ne sais quoi found only on the streets of Paris.