A pair of luxurious pâtisseries and three-of-a-kind sweet treat specialists making their first ventures into brick-and-mortar retail complete a full house of recent craft bakery openings.
From the Kentish coast in the south all the way up north to Yorkshire – via Surrey, London, and Lincolnshire – the businesses behind the newly opened stores divulge their details and showcase their mouth-watering bakery offerings.
Following on from the eighth edition of Opening Doors, here’s the latest round-up of bakery shop newcomers:
Rachel Leigh Bakes, Folkestone
Located along the picturesque Old High Street of the Kentish port town, a mere stone’s throw from the seafront, the first retail outlet of the sweet treat specialist opens this Saturday (8 June). Customers will be offered a range freshly baked onsite and starring its bestselling cinnamon buns and cookie pies, along with brownies, blondies, cardamom buns, New York City-style cookies, and layer cakes.
Rachel Glasson founded the firm two years ago after deciding to leave a 10-year nursing career to look after people’s appetites instead. She started selling home bakes at a market stall on Folkestone Harbour Arm, with its subsequent success moving it forwards to its new retail space set to employ a total of five staff. The interior design is said to create something calming and neutral with olive greens, oak, and a bespoke leaf window design by a local artist.
Petite Patisserie, Farnham
Launched recently in partnership with the Bush Hotel in Farnham, this pâtisserie serves petite bakery sweet treats such as its signature dulce de leche cookies and seasonal flavoured macarons. The shop is centred around a large open plan kitchen, allowing customers to watch founder Leyre Pedrazuela and her team of four create an exquisite array of layer cakes, choux buns, tarts, sphere desserts, cheesecakes, roulades, financiers, and Madeleines.
Pedrazuela was previously executive pastry chef at the Shangri-La hotel in London’s The Shard and also featured as a contestant in Bake Off: The Professionals. She said she wanted to offer high-end pâtisserie to people outside an exclusive hotel in a big city, making her products “just the right size so that everyone can share without compromising – and all at an accessible price”.
Joe & Dough, Sheffield
Joe is a one-man show at his new café opposite the Royal Hallamshire Hospital on Glossop Road, although he admits he might need to hire some help soon. The eponymous sole trader specialises in doughnuts but also creates the likes of focaccia and pizza to serve with locally roasted coffee. He also makes his own jams and syrups on the premises from locally sourced ingredients.
In addition to standard offerings such as jam-filled, custard-filled or glazed ring doughnuts, Joe told British Baker that his current favourite was the Millionaire’s Doughnut, which is filled with dulce de leche, glazed with chocolate ganache and topped with crumbled shortbread (as featured in the NPD round-up for National Doughnut Week 2024). More recently, he unveiled the new Tropical Sensation doughnut made with a non-alcoholic Pina Colada filling, mango pâte de fruits glaze and toasted coconut topping.
Robin Rose Bakes, Navenby
Another inaugural move into brick-and-mortar retail sees the free-from bakery specialist open a new café in the village of Navenby, near Lincoln. Diane and China Tebb are the mother-daughter team behind the three-year-old company, which steps up from a weekly stall at Stamford Market as well as appearances at agricultural shows across the Midlands.
Among the Robin Rose Bakes line-up are cakes, sweet and savoury pastries, traybakes, scones, and cookies, all guaranteed to be 100% free from gluten, dairy, and soy. Bestsellers include the lemon bar, chocolate fudge cake, and rocky road brownie.
With seating for up to 26 people on velvet lounge chairs, the café interior shares space with a gift shop and library and features dark green walls and purple floral touches. Plans are afoot to shift production from a small commercial kitchen to a larger production unit located beside the shop.
Ladurée, London
The luxury French pâtisserie brand has opened a brand-new space for tea and haute cuisine above its flagship store in Covent Garden. Chef Julian Alvarez has masterminded a fresh take on its afternoon tea offer, featuring a harmony of Anglo-French cuisine including finger sandwiches, fresh scones, miniature patisseries such as Plaisir Sucré and Ispahan, and Ladurée’s iconic macaron.
Situated on the corner of the historic Market Building overlooking the West Piazza, the expanded tearoom accommodates 36 extra covers and boasts a design that draws inspiration from the Versailles Hall of Mirrors as well as classic features of English manor houses. London’s West End property development firm Shaftsbury Capital said the new space reiterates the strength of its brand partnerships and continued portfolio investment.
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