Why a new SoMa bakery is selling $29 loaves of bread

Photo: Sarah Fritsche Assortment of pastries and baked goods, including brioche, are...

Remember when $4 toast put San Franciscans in a tizzy? Well, move over artisan toast, there’s a new loaf in town.

Meet the $29 brioche.

Not surprisingly, the loaf at Fifth Street’s new Les Gourmands has sparked an uproar online.

“For $29, it had better actually be from France, flown here this morning in its own First Class seat,” posted one outraged person on Reddit.

The bakery is owned and operated by fifth-generation baker Sylvain Chaillout and his parents. Prior to coming to the United States, Chaillout’s family operated small bakeries throughout France, mainly around Paris and Normandy. Chaillout spent the past 3 years looking for the perfect spot for Les Gourmands’ first location, opting for San Francisco because of the way people here delight in food.

“It’s not an ego trip,” says Chaillout about the bread’s price.

One reason for the hefty price is that Chaillout has established an 18-month paid apprenticeship program to train a new generation of bakers in classic French techniques. No culinary training required.

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It’s a mutually beneficial relationship — Chaillout and his parents get the help they need with their labor-intensive pastries, while bakers can learn while getting paid ($14/hour to start, with opportunity for advancement), instead of paying for expensive culinary school. Chaillout specifically hired apprentices with zero experience making French pastries, giving them hands-on practical baking experience. There are currently four apprentices on staff with plans to add more in the coming months as the bakery ramps up production.

Chaillout’s first apprentice, Souleymane Diouf, started in August. Diouf says he joined the bakery because he was tired of working in the corporate hospitality industry and was looking for a small family-run company. So far he’s found the experience to be invaluable.

Photo: Sarah Fritsche From left, Les Gourmands apprentice Souleymane Diouf and owner...

“I know at the end (of my apprenticeship), I’ll be able to own my own bakery one day,” says Diouf.

But what about that brioche? Is it worth the hefty price tag?

We tried the bread, along with some of Les Gourmands’ other pastries, such as the apricotine ($5.20), croissant ($4.20) and pain au chocolat ($5). The brioche has a shiny and deeply golden exterior with a light and fluffy interior that’s reminiscent of angel food cake. The flavor is sweet, rich and buttery.

“The real luxury is to put value on the artisan work,” says Chaillout.

Good brioche, says Chaillout, is like Champagne. It takes time and quality ingredients to produce.

Like all of Les Gourmands’ pastries, which are made using generations-old family recipes, the brioche is made by hand, and it’s an incredibly labor-intensive process that takes three days from start to finish. As such, the bakery only serves a small batch of full loaves each day.

And though it is not flown first class to San Francisco, Chaillout does source high-end butter, Isigny Sainte-Mère, from France’s Normandy region.

Les Gourmands, 280 Fifth St., San Francisco. (415) 872-9461. www.lesgourmandsbakery.com. Open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday.

Sarah Fritsche is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sfritsche@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @foodcentric