Croissants take five hours: Make the dough, rest it, laminate it, rest it, form it, proof it. “Then you bake it — and voilá.”
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A Ukrainian native who studied at an internationally renowned cooking school in Paris has opened a French bakery in Hallowell.
“I always loved to bake,” said Galyna Syrota, who leased ground-floor retail space at 156 Water St. from Capital Area Properties LLC and set up her business, Belle Boulangerie.
Ben Spencer of CORE, whose family owns Capital Area Properties LLC, brokered the lease.
The 4,500-square-foot mixed-use building at 156 Water St. was built in 1809 and is the second oldest in Hallowell, Spencer said.
Ukraine to Maine
Syrota was born and raised in Ukraine and has degrees in engineering and in economics education. She met her husband, Ambrose Lovely, when they were both teaching at an international school in Kiev. About 11 or 12 years ago, they decided to return to Lovely’s home state of Maine.
She decided to pursue her love of baking. Encouraged by Lovely, she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu’s "viennoiserie" and boulangerie programs. Viennoiserie refers to baked goods such as croissants and brioche; boulangerie refers to French breads.
“I saw the opportunity and jumped on it,” she said.
Establishing the brand
At the time, the couple lived in Brownville, north of Orono.
“When I came back from studying, I started baking right away, making croissants and breads for markets, and established the brand,” she said.
In 2024, they opened a shop in Sebec, about 14 miles south, and called it Belle Boulangerie.
A year later, they moved to Hallowell, leased the 156 Water St. space, transferred her equipment and reopened there.
Authentic recipes
She uses recipes learned at Le Cordon Bleu, importing some ingredients from New Zealand, Italy, Canada and Belgium, although ingredients are sourced locally when possible.
“It’s authentic recipes,” she said. “Just French-style breads. Four ingredients — yeast, water, salt and flour. We make all the fillings, like custard, curds and mousse. We don’t use any chemicals.”
A couple of employees, her brother-in-law and her sister-in-law work with her.
“We get up at 3 in the morning. That’s the truth behind the business,” she said. “To make one croissant from scratch takes five hours. You can’t go around it. You make the dough, it has to rest, you have to laminate it to get the layers, it has to rest, you have to form it and then you have to proof it, which is two, two-and-a-half hours. Then you bake it — and voilá.”
During summer weekends, the crew bakes over 200 croissants plus breads, brioche, cream puffs, Madeleine, babka, cruffins and Danishes, made daily by hand.
Syrota also offers baking classes.
“Community support has been tremendous,” she said. “We have a customer who comes every day and buys a loaf of bread.”