Work has begun to transform a vacant unit in Kelham Island’s eco-friendly Little Kelham development into a new independent, 30-seater café and bakery focusing on fresh bakes, speciality coffee, and ethically sourced provisions.
Bakers Yard Bakery is set to open this spring, in the unit next door to Isabella’s restaurant, and will offer an ever-changing selection of seasonal bakes and speciality coffee, as well as a bakery focused food menu of savoury pies, salads and sandwiches, utilising their homemade breads.
Readers may already be familiar with a selection of their sweet treats, which have been available in a number of the city’s favourite cafes since the Bakers Yard owners started their wholesale operation, Nourriture Bespoke, just under a year ago.
An artists of impression of the new Little Kelham cafe and bakery
What began as a side-gig, baking delicious canelé and cookies for Mow’s café, quickly grew to the point where owners Sam Lindsay and Becca Crofts’ bakes were in such demand, they were able to leave their jobs and go full-time, baking from home for cafes across the city.
The couple, who between them have more than three-decades of experience baking and working in kitchens, feel that the time is now right to showcase their skills in their very own café.
Sam said: “Once we left our jobs, we were doing everything from home, but we outgrew the house very quickly!”
Becca added: “We were doing personalised bakes for nine cafes. The dining room had three fridges, there were mixers everywhere, and you couldn’t move for Tupperware. It was fun to test the products and all of the cafes have been really supportive, but it was time to take the plunge.
“It was then that we came across Bakers Yard and went to view it.”
Sam continued: “It’s kind of the perfect sized space. The location is great, so we thought, we’ll just go for it.”
The plan is to move their bakery operation out of their house and into the 1100 square foot unit, while continuing a very scaled back version of their wholesale operation.
High on their list of priorities as a business is sustainability, which is another reason why the Little Kelham development is the perfect location for the café.
Becca explained: “It’s a lovely little community spot, and with the development’s eco-focus, that aligns really well with our business ethos as well.
“We’ve worked in lots of different places and not necessarily always been happy with the way ingredients are sourced and the way staff are treated, and we want to be a holistically sustainable business, so we source as much as we can locally.”
With that ethos in mind, the coffee comes from a B Corp listed roaster, the operation is fully electric with no gas stoves, and the ingredients are all seasonal and locally sourced wherever possible.
The upshot of that is that the menu will change week by week, depending on what’s available, making staring at Tesco’s depressing meal deal wall a thing of the past for locals!
Becca said: “We want to be able to say to our customers that we know where all our ingredients came from and we know the environmental impact of all those ingredients. That’s really important to us.”
Sam added: “As owner-operators, we’ve built the business to be a place where we want to work every day, and where we can create, bake and cook what we want. Week on week, things will change depending on the season, but also depending on what we want to make.”
Becca continued: “We don’t like the idea of having a menu that when you look at it, it could be anywhere. There will be a core menu, but we want to be able to offer someone who comes in on Monday, something different if they come back on Thursday.
“Another thing that’s really important to both of us is that it’s an accessible space. The range will be designed so that there are things at different price points. We don’t want it to be that you have to re-mortgage your house to have something.”
With work now well underway to create a warm and cosy space that retains some of the areas industrial feel, the couple are beginning to see their plans come to life.
Sam told us how they’re feeling with the opening date now in sight: “We’re nervous. It’s very daunting. We’re at the point where everything is happening quickfire, but it’s exciting as well. I think we’re offering something a little bit different to what else is available.”
Becca added: “We’re hiring now, so that’s where we’ve started to talk to people who have begun to bring their ideas to the table as well. It’s really lovely when you’ve had an idea that you’ve been nurturing for so long, to sit down with other people and they believe in it and want to be a part of it too – it then feels more real.”
Bakers Yard Bakery is set to open this spring, and for further updates and a look at some of their mouth watering bakes, chuck them a follow on insta here.
