The Le Polveri bakery shopfront in Milan, with its sign, awnings and outdoor tables

Le Polveri: one of Italy’s 70 top-rated bakeries

Le Polveri bakes slow sourdough bread in Milan from little more than flour, water, starter and salt. Five of Aurora Zancanaro’s loaves are now on Nuar, for pickup at her Via Vespri bakery on Thursday 22 October.

At a glance

  • Top marks from Gambero Rosso. Tre Pani, the highest rating, in the 2027 bread guide: one of 70 bakeries in Italy and one of five in Milan. Le Polveri was in the top tier of the guide’s first edition in 2019, too.
  • Sourdough only. Every loaf is raised with lievito madre, a natural starter. No baker’s yeast in the bread.
  • Four ingredients. The plain loaves are flour, water, starter and salt. Nothing else.
  • Grain from farmers who farm it properly. Organic, regenerative and biodynamic growers, plus fields of evolutionary grain mixtures, milled at mills around Italy.
  • Less-refined flours. Type 1 and wholemeal wheat, wholemeal rye: more of the whole grain stays in the flour.
  • Fermented overnight. The dough rests all night and goes into the oven from about 5:00.
  • Trusted by Milan’s kitchens. There’s usually a queue out the door, and restaurants across the city buy her sourdough.
  • Values you can taste. Strictly seasonal ingredients, no cinnamon, a bread made from yesterday’s bread, renewable electricity.
  • A fair price, said out loud. Aurora argues good bread in Milan can’t ethically cost less than €8 a kilo, and she can tell you where every euro goes.

Who bakes it

Aurora Zancanaro opened Le Polveri on 30 November 2017, in a tiny shop at Via Ausonio 7, a few steps from Sant’Ambrogio. A second, bigger bakery followed at Via Vespri Siciliani 16: an open bakehouse, a mezzanine and tables outside. That’s where you’ll collect your bread.

There’s usually a line out the door, and restaurants across Milan buy her sourdough. In June 2026, Gambero Rosso gave the Via Vespri bakery Tre Pani in its 2027 bread guide, one of 70 bakeries in Italy to get it. Le Polveri was already in the top tier of the guide’s first edition, in 2019.

The flour, and the farms behind it

The grain comes first. Aurora buys from farmers who work organically, regeneratively or biodynamically, and from growers of evolutionary grain mixtures (miscugli evolutivi): fields sown with many varieties at once, which she says cope better with a changing climate. The flour comes from mills around Italy.

The breads use less-refined flours: type 1 and wholemeal wheat, wholemeal rye and, across the wider range, einkorn, buckwheat and durum semolina. More of the whole grain stays in the flour. White type 0 flour goes only into the starters, the Ligurian focaccia and the pastries.

Sourdough only, fermented overnight

Every bread is raised with lievito madre, a natural sourdough starter. Baker’s yeast goes only into the Ligurian focaccia and the sweet, enriched doughs, never into a loaf.

The plain breads have four ingredients: flour, water, starter and salt. The dough rests overnight in a proofing room, and baking starts at about 5:00 the next morning. Aurora gives three reasons for the slow way: flavour, digestibility, and bread that keeps.

Why it costs what it costs

Le Polveri’s sourdough loaves cost €9 to €15, and Aurora says it plainly: good bread in Milan can’t ethically cost less than €8 a kilo.

Her list of what the price pays for: farmers who chose organic or regenerative farming, millers who protect the quality of the flour, decent conditions for the people in the bakery, and the slow sourdough process. Then the costs nobody sees: taxes, food-safety (HACCP) checks, fire and first-aid training, pest control, a safety officer, extinguishers, a labour consultant and an accountant.

Supermarket bread is cheaper. This is what the difference buys.

The rules she bakes by

Ingredients follow the season, strictly. There’s no cinnamon anywhere in the bakery: Aurora won’t use it because of its long, colonial supply chain. The bakery runs on renewable electricity, and she pays extra for it.

One loaf, the Campagna “al quadrato”, is made with semi-wholemeal flour and leftover bread, so yesterday’s loaves don’t go in the bin. Gambero Rosso’s guide singles it out as the manifesto of the whole project.

Allergens

Every bread on Nuar contains gluten. The bakery says all its products may carry traces of gluten, lactose, tree nuts, eggs, sesame and peanuts.

Order on Nuar, pick up at Le Polveri

Le Polveri’s bread is now on the Nuar app. Order there, then pick up your bread at Le Polveri, Via Vespri, on Thursday 22 October, 17:30–18:30.

Bring a bag. A 2 kg loaf is heavier than it looks.

📸 @lepolveri

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