10 October 2023

This is the weekly newsletter from Loaf in Stirchley, keeping you abreast of our bakery and cookery school, and other news we think you might be interested in.

This week we give notice that we will be hiring a new baker to start in January. Please spread the word! We also have chocolate, honey, sauce and jam news and a timeline for the building work over the road.

Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu and cookery school spaces.

🍞 Pre-order your bread and pastries 🥐

We’ll have plenty on the shelves all week, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.

Our opening hours are:
Wed - Fri: 12-6
Saturday: 8-1

Loaf is hiring a baker

We're looking for a full-time baker to start in January. We're still writing the job advert (which will go here once it's done) but wanted to get the word out as soon as possible as we'd like to hire someone with experience in a bakery so they can get up to speed as quickly as possible.

If that's you or someone you know, email jobs@loaf.coop and we'll send the job pack out as soon as it's ready.

Chocolate, honey, sauce and jam news

We recently took delivery of slabs of chocolate from Marshalls which are on sale at £4 a bar. These are hand-made on the other side of the tracks in Bournville Village from raw cacao beans ethically sourced for the best quality. You can read about their process here.

They're also another lockdown project that got out of hand and are now a micro-business exporting internationally. That experiment in universal basic income we went through sure has had some intriguing outcomes – someone should tell the government!

Quinton Meadow Honey is back in stock after a short break. This lovely honey is from bees feasting in Quinton Meadows Nature Reserve and Woodgate Valley Park on the edge of the city and is a favourite of ours.

Pip's new hot sauce, Brewed, is also back on the shelves having flown out in days. It's a collaboration with Attic Brew Co and is quite unlike her other sauces, yet still recognisably Pip.

Finally, Jacky hopes to make a delivery of jams this week as they've also flown off the shelf this month. It's the bountiful season so why not try something new along with your favourites?

A timeline for building our building

The steel frame for our new building has shot up over the last fortnight, which is extremely exciting. We can finally see the shape we'll be occupying in under year, should all go to plan, fingers crossed, touch wood, etc.

We obtained a timeline from Tricas, the construction agency, and thought you might be interested in the highlights. Obviously all these dates are subject to change, but now the foundations are set it's just a matter of logistics, fingers crossed, touch wood, etc.

(In a little under a year you'll be queueing around this corner peering in to see the bakers hard at work)

The steelwork should be all finished next week. Then there's a period of installing drainage and service ducting while the substructure brickwork, stair pads and beams go in. This should be done early December. Something called "superstructure brickwork" takes us to Christmas after which there are three months of installing the timber frame and windows.

April sees the roof and cladding go on so the really exciting bit can start in May – the ground floor fit-out. This runs nearly to the end of the build in September and we'll hopefully be able to get in before then to install our equipment and do our finishing touches.

We're currently looking at moving over the road in September and opening for business in October 2024 (should all go to plan, fingers crossed, touch wood, etc.)

It is, as they say, very exciting and not a little terrifying!

Lunches this week

Wednesday

• Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)

Thursday

• Ciabatta sandwich: Slaw, sweet potatoes, caramelised onions, vegan mayonnaise (Ve) optional Halloumi Cheese (V)

Friday

• Curry: Potato, chickpeas and peas with sourdough (Ve)
• Salt beef on challah bun

Wed – Sat:

• Sausage rolls
• Vegetable rolls (V)

Wed - Fri

• Sourdough pizza: Parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella, pesto & rocket (V)
• Ham and cheese croissant
• Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)

Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.

Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.

Cookery school classes

The following classes have spaces as of this newsletter being posted.

Loaf’s all-day classes:

• Bread — Back to Basics: Tue 24 Oct, Sat 18 Nov, Tue 28 Nov
• Simply Sourdough: Sat 21 Oct, Sat 11 Nov
• Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie: Sat 14 Oct, Sat 25 Nov
• Baking with Heritage Grains Returns in 2024
• Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker: Sat 28 Oct

Loaf’s evening classes:

• Handmade Pasta: Wed 15 Nov

Haseen’s evening classes:

• Dosa: Wed 25 Oct, Wed 8 Nov
• Thaali: Tue 17 Oct, Wed 29 Nov

Lap’s all-day classes:

• Sausage & Charcuterie: Sat 4 Nov
• Seafood Masterclass: Sat 2 Dec

Lap’s evening classes:

• Thai: Tue 14 Nov
• Sushi: Wed 1 Nov
• Ramen: Tue 21 Nov
• Dumplings: Tue 7 Nov
• Knife Skills: Returns in 2024

Classes for November will be released soon. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.

Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!

Team Loaf: Rach, Pete, Ian, Dave, Neil, Martha, Sarah, Dorit & Molly

Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Threads / Twitter / Facebook