Our story
A family bakery,
since 1994.
Francesca Bakery is named after Francesca Battaglia — Angelo’s wife, and the heart of the family that has been baking on Invergordon Avenue for more than thirty years.
Chapter One · Palermo to Toronto
More than a bakery, a part of the family.
Angelo Battaglia opened Francesca on Invergordon Avenue in 1994 with one promise: every loaf, every cannolo and every tray of arancini would taste the way it did back home in Sicily. Three decades on, the recipes haven’t moved — but the line at the counter has only grown.
Walk in any morning and you’ll smell why East Toronto keeps coming back. Family-owned, family-run, every day.
32 yrs
Family-owned · Since 1994
32 yrs
Family-owned · Since 1994
32 yrs
Family-owned · Since 1994
32 yrs
Family-owned · Since 1994
Chapter Two · Today
Four kitchens, one family.
What started as a five-person operation has grown to over 3,500 square feet of retail and bakery production, with more than twenty-five people across four kitchens — bread, pastry, cakes and the hot table.
We’ve kept investing in the most modern equipment and the finest ingredients while making the vast majority of everything we sell, fresh, in-house, every day. The result is a bakery that feels both traditional and unmistakably current — a European-style setting where you can pick up a loaf, a tray of cannoli, or a sit-down lunch from the hot table.
The Battaglia Family
Three generations, one bench.
Founder & Head Baker
Angelo Battaglia
Trained in his father’s bakery in Palermo and at the famous Bar Costa. Opened Francesca in 1994 and still works the bench most mornings — when he isn’t watching his grandchildren with Francesca.
Master Pastry Chef
Francesco Battaglia
Catering & Wedding Cakes
Fabio Battaglia
Joined the bakery in 2011 and heads catering and the wedding-cake department. Under Angelo’s guidance he’s also become an experienced bread baker, and looks after ordering, scheduling and our wholesale clients.
Milestones
Thirty-two years at the bench.
A short version of the journey from a five-person shop in 1994 to the bakery East Toronto knows today.