Shinya Pain: an atypical shop specializing in natural sourdough in Montmartre

Local residents know him well since he set up shop in Montmartre's rue des Trois Frères in the summer of 2020. Today, his stall - which also serves as his premises and laboratory - is never empty. Quite the contrary, in fact. You have to be patient to discover Shinya Pain, this atypical bakery specializing in natural sourdough bread, opened by Shinya Inagaki.

At Shinya Pain, you have to be patient to get in because the store is so small. And it's busy, very busy. Shinya's bakery doesn't welcome its first customers until 4.30pm, so we decided to arrive 10 minutes before opening time. But, to our surprise, nearly 20 people are already there, patiently queuing on the narrow sidewalk of rue des Trois Frères, in the 18th arrondissement, under the stunned gaze of some passers-by.

So we get in line and wait, watching as a few minutes later the first served customers emerge from the bakery with smiles on their faces, as if they'd won a precious sesame. In line are regulars, of course, but also novices and tourists, most of them Japanese. For, as his name suggests, Shinya Inagaki hails from the Land of the Rising Sun. Fascinated by traditional French bakery, Shinya went to France to learn the trade. He cut his teeth at Grenier à Pain, boulangerie du Nil and Fermentation Générale.

But back to the 18th arrondissement. After a long wait, it's finally our turn, and we're greeted by the very friendly, warm and smiling Shinya. Around him, his indispensable oven, bags of flour and the day's produce: seed bread, bread made with Barbu de Roussillon wheat, buckwheat bread, bread made with small spelt flour, and black bread (buckwheat, large spelt and rye).

On this day, the artisan baker also offers focaccia, scones (natural sourdough and special sourdough), cookies and two sourdough cakes (one with apples, the other with chocolate). At Shinya, the products are different every day. Customers can also discover flan, a walnut cake, a fruit tart, bread made with " champagne red " ancient wheat flour, Touselle bread, sesame meslin bread and, of course, bread made with khorasan wheat, an ancient variety of durum wheat from northeast Iran, rich in fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc.

Another original feature of Shinya Pain? Its communication on social networks. The artisan baker announces daily the products he's offering that day in the form of post-it notes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @shinyapain_montmartre

That day, we fell in love and left with dark bread and buckwheat bread, as well as a slice of chocolate cake and a special sourdough cookie. Don't forget to have some cash on you, as Shinya Pain doesn't take credit cards.

So, in the end, what does Shinya Bread taste like? We're not going to lie, the Japanese-born baker knows what he's doing. The crumb is generous and fragrant, without too much acidity, while the crusts are both marked and delicate. Its strength? To offer a wide variety of wheat varieties, with perfect mastery of bread-making. What about the rest? The chocolate cake will delight fans of extra-strong cocoa, while the cookie will satisfy lovers of cranberry and other dried fruits.

Despite the discouraging queues and limited opening hours (Thursday to Sunday, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.), we'll definitely be back!