Romain Tessier, a gifted baker from France, hit it off with Suzanne Hodgkinson, a Canadian businesswoman, in a night out in London, sparking off a culinary romance that eventually birthed the Arty Baker bakeries in Dublin and the more recent Le Petit Renard wine bar in Kimmage, Dublin 12. Their shared passion for food and business acumen has made a significant impact on Dublin’s baking scene, and they’ve recently expanded their ventures by launching a French wine bar.
In the hospitality industry, Monday night gatherings are a crucial ritual marking the end of another bustling weekend. Tessier, who was then at the top of his baking game at London’s prestigious Hotel Cafe Royal, chanced upon Hodgkinson in a London tequila bar during one of these Monday night jamborees. Before relocating to Ireland in 2020, the couple had spent some time in both London and Kuwait. Their relocation resulted in the birth of a pop-up bakery in Sandycove, shortly followed by the inaugural Arty Baker branches in destinations like Dalkey, Kimmage, Sandymount, and Grand Canal Station.
Hailing from Tours in the Loire Valley, Tessier’s baking journey started in his teenage years. He honed his skills at a traditional French bakery, where he apprenticed and mastered the intricacies of baking and Viennoiserie. His impressive repertoire includes a prominent spell at the five-star Savoy hotel, followed by a five-year tenure at the Hotel Café Royal in London. Tessier also showed off his baking prowess as a contestant on Channel 4’s Bake Off: The Professionals in 2018, reaching the semi-finals.
Adding to his international experience, Tessier then moved to Kuwait where he developed bakery concepts for a hotel. However, the pandemic triggered a return to Europe, and the duo decided to go wherever the next job offer came from. This led them to Dublin in late 2020, following Hodgkinson securing a role in digital health.
Tessier rapidly rose to prominence, transforming from owning a pop-up in Sandycove to launching his own bakery, Arty Baker. His partner Hodgkinson soon joined him full time in the thriving venture that now boasts four flourishing outlets, delighting Dublin’s residents with their diverse range of French pastries; including their signature honey butter brioche toast, the Bostock, alongside ham and cheese croissants and jalapeño poppers.
An impressive feat, the entrepreneurial duo have not stopped at simply managing their four Arty Baker outlets. Instead, they have ambitious plans to launch an adjacent wine bar to their Kimmage branch in the imminent future. Named Le Petit Renard, or The Little Fox in English, after a serendipitous encounter with a young fox during a late-night stroll, the wine bar will offer French-themed tapas along with a range of wines, either by the bottle or glass.
Tessier champions principles of meticulousness, flavour, and contemporariness, harmoniously integrating these values into his French bakery that seamlessly marries past and present, while upholding venerated practices and traditions. With a skilled team of six French bakers backing him and ensuring fresh bread is baked and supplied to each outlet two times a day, these values are destined to infiltrate Le Petit Renard, leading to the creation of an exquisite boutique wine bar. After all, Tessier recognises that the pairing of French cheese, good bread, and wine is a divine combination that cannot be improved.