Francesca Bakery opened its doors in June 1994. Angelo Battaglia, the owner, named the bakery after his wife Francesca. It started as a 5 employee operation and has grown to over 3500 square feet of retail and bakery production with over 25 employees.

Angelo started his baking career in his father’s Italian bakery in Palermo, Sicily where he learned the art of Italian bread making. He later learned the art of Sicilian pastries working in Palermo’s famous Bar Costa as a teenager. After immigrating to Canada and working in a Toronto bakery, he decided to open his own bakery in 1994. In the beginning it was tough for Angelo working 18 hour days 7 days a week, but as the business grew the work load lessened for Angelo as he was able to hire more employees. It was truly a labour of love for Angelo, as he still works full time in the bakery, while taking on occasional joint assignments with his wife Francesca in watching their young grandchildren.

In 1997, his son Francesco Battaglia joined the business. Apart from learning the craft from his father, he has also attended culinary school at George Brown College. In 2005 Francesco went to Palermo, Sicily to work with Master Pastry Chef Salvatore Cappello to learn his modern pastry skills. He still attends courses to specialize in other areas of the trade such as gelato, chocolate and world-class desserts from many Master pastry Chefs all over the world.

Today…..

Today Francesca Bakery boasts a huge selection of bread, cakes, hot foods and pastries, both modern and traditional.

In 2011 Angelo’s youngest son Fabio joined the business. Fabio is there to help manage the bakery with ordering, scheduling, and marketing and help grow the business by attracting new retail and wholesale clients. Fabio has also become an experienced bread baker, under Angelo’s guidance, while also heading the catering and wedding cake departments.

Francesca Bakery continues to invest in the most modern equipment and finest ingredients to bring its customers some of the best tasting pastries in all of the GTA. Francesca Bakery is proud to say that the majority of their products are made fresh in house.

Our Italian bakery is designed to bring current and new customers a fresh, modern bakery with a European setting. Our in-store service and dining area will help expand our bakery, catering, hot table and deli business to better serve the city of Toronto.