With bread made fresh daily and a friendly atmosphere, Black Rooster Bakery distinguishes itself from other commercial bakeries. Owner MarcheAnn Mann preserves the art and craft of traditional bread making by using family recipes, which call for a process of long fermentation to cultivate the utmost amount of flavor and nutrients.
“I have always loved to bake,” Mann said. “For years my sister and I would vacation to different cooking schools and talk about opening a bakery.”
Mann’s dream of opening a bakery began in 2007 when she retired from the real estate business after 10 years and applied to New York City’s French Culinary Institute. After two years of waiting, Mann was accepted and moved to New York City to begin her training.
“The training was very intense, baking anywhere from 300 to 500 baguettes a day,” Mann said. “By the time we were finished only half of the students were left in the class.”
After she completed her training, Mann moved back to Fort Worth to pursue the next step of the journey—searching for a bakery location. Mann said she wanted to find a neighborhood where customers could ride their bikes or walk to get fresh-baked bread. She found this in the current location at the corner of Forest Park and Park Hill boulevard.
“It’s so much fun being in this neighborhood because of the energy that TCU brings,” Mann said.
Besides the European-styled bread baked fresh throughout the day, the bakery offers a wide variety of treats. From homemade cinnamon pecan rolls to lunchtime sandwiches, the menu offers a mix of savory and sweet.
Lisa Mocek, bakery customer, said she has not tasted anything on the menu that was not good. If she had to pick a favorite though, it would be the bacon and cheddar scones. Customer Kelly Jordan, who visits the bakery at most 10 times a month, picked a breakfast and lunchtime favorite.
"My favorite items on the menu are the goat cheese, olive and roasted pepper sandwich and the French Toast Muffin," she said. Mann had a hard time pinpointing a single favorite as well.
“If I had to choose my favorite thing on the menu, I think it would be my baguettes and then on the sweeter side it would be the scones,” Mann said.
The warm atmosphere contributes to the authentic European feel and brings in all types of people. As customers enter they are greeted with a smile and conversations flow as though between two old friends. Jordan described the bakery as "local, friendly and neighborhood-like."
Mann said the kitchen was designed to be open so she could get to know all of the customers and they could see this two, sometimes three day, process that separates the Black Rooster Bakery’s bread from the rest.
“We truly have the best customers and it’s so nice to be appreciated,” Mann said. “I have to give a shout out to all those fabulous customers out there.”
Lauren-Ashton Shepheard contributed to this story.
