delicious. 2017 PRODUCE AWARDS WINNER
PHOTOGRAPHS DAVID CHARBIT
It’s the Hoxton Bakehouse motto
WHAT OUR FINAL JUDGING PANEL SAID
“The crust is perfect against the chewy crumb. Full of flavour. Everything a sourdough loaf should be”
Taped to a wall in Hoxton Bakehouse’s tiny, busy office is an A4 sign that reads: Never, never, never give up. It’s a fitting slogan for this young, ambitious business run by Darren Bland and Florence Hellier. Despite the name, the bakery isn’t in an old East End-style warehouse in hip Hoxton, but in an unglamorous industrial unit a stone’s throw from Southampton Central railway station, next to a car repair garage.
The Bakehouse has only been up and running since 2014 but its beautiful pastries and breads have won the hearts of locals, who flock through the doors each Saturday morning to grab loaves fresh from the ovens. The bakery may have bagged a Produce Award for its stoneground spelt loaf, but getting the company from the planning stages to award-winning reality wasn’t without its challenges.
“Actually, there wasn’t really a planning stage at all”, explains Florence, who clearly has a good sense of humour. “It was more a case of needs must.” Darren, who’s from London, and Hampshire girl Florence are both chefs who’d been working in numerous London restaurants when their paths crossed in the pastry section. It certainly wasn’t love at first sight.
INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS