By Taylor Owens
Photos By Fischer Genau
In the early morning hours in Bozeman, trays of buttery croissants and delicate pastries make their way from a bustling bakery kitchen eight miles west in Four Corners, to an iconic building downtown. Inside the lobby of the historic hotel The Baxter, the display cases at Café Aurore fill with the kind of pastries more commonly associated with the streets of Paris, France, than the mountains of southwest Montana.
For founder Aurore Adam, the new downtown café is both a milestone and a full-circle moment. What began as an unexpected pandemic detour has grown into one of Bozeman’s most beloved bakeries, now with a new Main Street destination.
Adam never originally planned to start a bakery in Montana. In fact, before moving to the United States, baking wasn’t even on her radar.
“I came directly from Paris,” she said. “I came here to visit my sister in 2020, and the border shut down because of COVID, and I got stuck here.”
Instead of being confined to a small Paris apartment during strict lockdowns in France, Adam suddenly found herself in Montana’s wide-open landscapes, learning to downhill and cross-country ski, and enjoying biking and hiking. But amid all that outdoor adventure, she noticed something missing.
For founder Aurore Adam, the new downtown café is both a milestone and a full-circle moment. What began as an unexpected pandemic detour has grown into one of Bozeman’s most beloved bakeries, now with a new Main Street destination.
Adam never originally planned to start a bakery in Montana. In fact, before moving to the United States, baking wasn’t even on her radar.
“I came directly from Paris,” she said. “I came here to visit my sister in 2020, and the border shut down because of COVID, and I got stuck here.”
Instead of being confined to a small Paris apartment during strict lockdowns in France, Adam suddenly found herself in Montana’s wide-open landscapes, learning to downhill and cross-country ski, and enjoying biking and hiking. But amid all that outdoor adventure, she noticed something missing.
“In France, when you go out for the day, you just buy from the bakery in the morning—you take pastries, sandwiches, bread—and you have it for the day,” Adam explained. “Here I was craving to-go pastries or a sandwich before going out.”
In Paris, bakeries are simply part of everyday life. “You don’t think about it,” she said. “It’s your routine. And you don’t see how important it is in your life before you don’t have it anymore.”
That realization planted the seed for what would eventually become Aurore French Bakery & Café.
“My inspiration was that there is a market,” she said. “I think people will love it. I want that for myself if I move here. I want to go to a bakery.”
“During COVID everybody was trying to make their own bread, their own croissants,” she said. Like many people during the pandemic, Adam initially started experimenting with baking at home. “I had never baked before,” she laughed.
Adam eventually returned to France to train professionally, attending baking school and completing internships in multiple bakeries across the country.
“The most important thing was training in different bakeries—real world experience, touching the dough, making stuff,” she said. “This is how you learn.”
In Paris, bakeries are simply part of everyday life. “You don’t think about it,” she said. “It’s your routine. And you don’t see how important it is in your life before you don’t have it anymore.”
That realization planted the seed for what would eventually become Aurore French Bakery & Café.
“My inspiration was that there is a market,” she said. “I think people will love it. I want that for myself if I move here. I want to go to a bakery.”
“During COVID everybody was trying to make their own bread, their own croissants,” she said. Like many people during the pandemic, Adam initially started experimenting with baking at home. “I had never baked before,” she laughed.
Adam eventually returned to France to train professionally, attending baking school and completing internships in multiple bakeries across the country.
“The most important thing was training in different bakeries—real world experience, touching the dough, making stuff,” she said. “This is how you learn.”
She worked in seven different bakeries throughout Paris and the French Alps, absorbing techniques and styles from each.
“I wanted to have a lot of experiences in different bakeries,” Adam explained. “Because then I could pick what I like from this one, what I like about this one.”
The training also reinforced just how central bakeries are to daily life in France.
“In France, bakeries are considered essential,” she said. “During COVID only essential workers could go to work—medical staff, firefighters, and people who work in bakeries.”
After coming back to Montana, Adam began selling pastries at farmers’ markets and pop-up events before opening her first brick-and-mortar location in Four Corners in May of 2023.
“I wanted to have a lot of experiences in different bakeries,” Adam explained. “Because then I could pick what I like from this one, what I like about this one.”
The training also reinforced just how central bakeries are to daily life in France.
“In France, bakeries are considered essential,” she said. “During COVID only essential workers could go to work—medical staff, firefighters, and people who work in bakeries.”
After coming back to Montana, Adam began selling pastries at farmers’ markets and pop-up events before opening her first brick-and-mortar location in Four Corners in May of 2023.
“I remember the first month I did not really sleep. I did not really eat,” she said. “We were doing everything.”
She and her small team worked nearly around the clock.
“I was leaving at night at like 9 p.m., then coming back at midnight,” Adam recalled. “It was very intense.”
Still, the moment customers began walking through the doors made it all worthwhile.
“The first day, when we saw people coming, we were like—people are here at the opening,” she says. “Every time somebody crossed the door we were like, ‘There is a client!’ We couldn’t believe it.”
Adam credits much of the bakery’s early success to the support of the local food community in Bozeman. Local cafés and businesses offered advice and encouragement while she was getting started, and farmers’ markets quickly proved the concept worked.
“Every time we opened at the farmers’ market, we had a line of people waiting,” she said. “Most of the time we sold out.”
She and her small team worked nearly around the clock.
“I was leaving at night at like 9 p.m., then coming back at midnight,” Adam recalled. “It was very intense.”
Still, the moment customers began walking through the doors made it all worthwhile.
“The first day, when we saw people coming, we were like—people are here at the opening,” she says. “Every time somebody crossed the door we were like, ‘There is a client!’ We couldn’t believe it.”
Adam credits much of the bakery’s early success to the support of the local food community in Bozeman. Local cafés and businesses offered advice and encouragement while she was getting started, and farmers’ markets quickly proved the concept worked.
“Every time we opened at the farmers’ market, we had a line of people waiting,” she said. “Most of the time we sold out.”
