Eat excellent bread and pastries for a good cause at Village 127

So what’s special about this place? Well, Village 127 is both bakery and social enterprise, run by the Chi Heng Foundation in support of Shanghai Young Bakers, a charity that provides underprivileged youths with a fully sponsored culinary education in baking. It’s the Young Bakers who are at the helm at Village 127, kneading out excellent breads and pastries on the daily.

Two of the Bakers’ special house breads are to die for, both pillow-like in texture – first, the cranberry-rose loaf with tart dried berries and a thin centre of sweet, tangy cream cheese and second, the mocha loaf with chocolate chips. Soft, chewy and so scrumptious. The crusty fig and walnut loaf is great too, as are the baguettes and cereal breads… all the bread is good. They even do scones and homemade fig jam.

The bread here is ‘the same you’d find 60 years ago’, made onsite with the best ingredients: French flour, Belgian chocolate, etc. The goal is for people to come to the café because it’s great, which in turn supports the charity. For admirable founder Chung To, social enterprises like Village 127 are the future of philanthropy.

Heading the organisation, Chung wants to empower the younger generation by providing more than university, but the opportunity for a better life in a tough society. Most of the students in the SYB program grew up as orphans – many having lost parents to AIDS – and are often subject to negative social stigma. Chung encourages them to overcome by becoming educated and finding purpose. To date, the organisation has sponsored over 20,000 students in becoming pastry chefs. ‘Heads up and live with dignity,’ he says.

‘No matter how low the starting point, if you give people enough love, care and encouragement, they can be number one in the world,’ insists Chung. ‘The sky is the limit.’

Where to find them

Village 127 French Bakery & Café  L105B, Henderson 688, 688 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Fenyang Lu.

Jiashan Saturday Market A farmers'-style food market on the first and third Saturday of every month at No. 37, Lane 550 Shaanxi Nan Lu, near Shaoxing Lu.

Shanghai Young Bakers WeChat store

Scan the QR code below to for instructions on how to order through the official WeChat store. 

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