Margot & Henri Blanc
Two people, one obsession:
What can flour and water become?
Margot and Henri met in the kitchen of a Montreal bistro in 2010. She was the pastry chef who could laminate dough in her sleep. He ran the savory line and had a thing for fire. They bonded over a shared obsession with fermentation — the slow, living magic that turns simple ingredients into something transcendent.
After marrying in 2013, they did what any sensible couple would do: they quit their jobs and traveled for two years. They baked in a communal wood oven in a Portuguese village. They studied tandoor technique in Rajasthan. They learned about grain varieties at a Danish flour mill. They ate bread in every country they visited and asked one question everywhere: how do you make this?
They landed in Asheville in 2015, drawn by the mountains, the food culture, and something they'd been searching for: access to real, heritage grain farmers within driving distance.
Henri built the wood-fired oven himself — a massive masonry beast that takes three hours to heat and holds that heat for an entire baking day. Margot caught a wild sourdough starter from the Asheville air and named her Colette, after her grand-mère in Quebec. Colette is still alive and fed daily, the living heart of every loaf.
Sourdough & Steam opened in 2016 in a converted warehouse space on Chestnut Street. The concept was simple: bread made with time, fire, and the best flour they could find. No commercial yeast. No shortcuts. No compromise.
Margot Blanc
Head Baker
Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Grew up baking with wild yeast on her grand-mère's farm in Quebec. Obsessed with flour varietals and fermentation science. Shapes tens of thousands of loaves a year by hand.
Henri Blanc
Kitchen Director
Former line cook in Montreal's fine dining scene. Built and maintains the bakery's wood-fired ovens himself. Runs the wood-fired kitchen and sources ingredients from local farms.
What we believe in
Local Flour, Always
Every grain comes from Carolina Ground, a stone mill 20 minutes away. We know the farmers. We've walked the fields. Heritage varieties like Turkey Red, Wren's Abruzzi, and Red Fife give our bread character no commodity flour can match.
Wild Yeast Only
No packet of commercial yeast has ever entered this bakery. Everything is leavened by Colette — our wild-caught sourdough starter. She gives our bread its soul: the tang, the complexity, the life.
Fire & Time
Our wood-fired oven runs at 500+ degrees. The radiant heat from brick and stone gives bread a crust that no gas or electric oven can achieve. And we never rush fermentation — our country loaf gets 72 hours.
No Shortcuts
We don't use dough conditioners, preservatives, or artificial anything. Four ingredients: flour, water, salt, starter. That's bread. Everything else is a compromise we're not willing to make.
Come meet us.
We're always happy to talk bread, flour, fermentation, or the meaning of life over a fresh loaf.
Plan Your Visit