French bakers bring imported flour, butter to West Town bakery

Serious bread buyers will have a new stop in West Town when Guillotine Bakery opens at 1711 W. Chicago Ave., turning the former Rhona Hoffman gallery space into a bakery-cafe built around French flour, French butter and a menu that reaches well beyond pastries. The 9 a.m. debut on June 17 will introduce a shop that is trying to make a point on the shelf: baguettes, sourdough loaves, pain de campagne and croissants are not side offerings here, but the core of the concept.

The bakery is led by Vincent Didry, Vince Le Bec and Alizé Bikard, a trio that is leaning into French bread culture with a modern Chicago format. Didry’s background includes time in Paris at Ladurée and Pierre Marcolini, and he helped open multiple locations for The French Bastards. Le Bec has worked in kitchens across France, Switzerland and the U.S., and he grew up in Brittany, a detail that helps explain the bakery’s emphasis on classic French standards rather than novelty-driven mashups.

That traditional focus is what makes Guillotine stand out in a city full of bakeries chasing maximalist, social-media-friendly pastries. The menu will include baguettes baked with imported French flour and butter, sourdough loaves, kouign-amanns, pain au chocolat, almond croissants, pain suisse, sandwiches and lunch items. For sourdough fans, the draw is clear: this is a bakery where the bread program is meant to matter on its own, not just as a backdrop for sweeter pastries.

The space was designed by Siren Betty and includes a breakfast counter overlooking the production kitchen, with the bakers visible from the dining area. That open setup turns the bakery into more than a grab-and-go counter. It is meant to work as a place to sit, have coffee, watch the ovens and stay through lunch, with Sparrow Coffee Roasters supplying the drinks.

Anticipation has been building for nearly two years, and Guillotine gave Chicago bakers and pastry hunters a preview earlier this spring with a one-day pop-up at Mindy’s Bakery in Wicker Park. That event sold more than 700 pastries in a few hours, a strong signal that the city is ready for a bakery betting on plain baguettes, sourdough loaves and the discipline of French technique.