Aleksandra and Jacek Dojnikowscy: The Art of Simplicity

How was BAKEN born?

It's a surprisingly unexpected and interesting story. We were originally looking for a space to produce bread for another concept of ours, but then we came across a wonderful venue on Żurawia Street. It felt like such a waste to turn it into nothing more than a small production bakery. That's when the idea of creating a place centred around bread began to take shape. We envisioned a spot serving simple yet high-quality breakfasts, with a short, carefully curated menu and filter coffee as the drink of choice. We were strongly inspired by the Scandinavian approach to simplicity.

BAKEN is no longer just a place, it's a philosophy. Do you remember the moment when you realised it was no longer simply a food project, but a world that had started to develop a rhythm of its own?

Probably when we stopped thinking about what we wanted to create and started paying attention to what people were doing with the place themselves. We realised that BAKEN had become part of their everyday rituals. That's not something you can plan or design. It only happens when people genuinely feel good somewhere.

In a world of excess and constant speed, you make things that require time and attention. Do you see this as a form of resistance to modern life, or has this simply always been your way of working?

We've never thought of it as a rebellion. We simply don't know how to do it any other way. Some things cannot be accelerated without losing their meaning: fermentation, recipe development, building a team, or earning the trust of guests. Time is not a cost to us. It is one of the most important ingredients.
Our guiding principle is simplicity, but not the kind that comes from something being easy. Quite the opposite. You first have to do an enormous amount of work so that, in the end, only what truly matters remains. That is probably the greatest paradox of our work. The simpler something appears, the more time it has usually taken to achieve.

How do you recognize the moment when something is "good enough" to share with people? Is it intuition, experience, or something else entirely?

We never feel that something is perfect. Instead, we ask ourselves whether we would want to come back for it. Would we order it again? Would we confidently serve it to our friends? If the answer is yes, then we're ready to offer it to our guests. And even then, we continue refining it. The hardest part is not constantly inventing something new. The hardest part is doing simple-looking things well, every single day.

How does your perspective on what you do change when you bring BAKEN into a place like PURO? Does the context of a new space and collaboration with different chefs add something to your work?

It's a wonderful meeting of our two worlds. PURO has its own energy, its own guests, and its own rhythm. For us, it's an opportunity to see our products in a new context and learn from the people we collaborate with.
The most exciting part is meeting new people and discovering new perspectives on food each time. Our products are the starting point, but the menu is created collaboratively by our Head Chef, Michał Toczyłowski, and PURO's chefs. As a result, every pop-up is slightly different, and that's exactly what we enjoy most about this project.

If guests were to remember just one feeling after experiencing BAKEN at PURO, what would you want it to be?

We would like guests to leave feeling that they have been part of something special, but in a very simple and natural way. Good food, great people, and an idea born from a genuine collaboration between BAKEN and PURO.
The moments we value most are those that manage to surprise people not because they are overly complex, but because they are simply thoughtful and well executed.