12 December 2022
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 it’s all go!
We’ve rejigged the bakery shop so more than two people can come in at once, and it’s last orders for Christmas this coming weekend.
Also, we’ll be releasing the January to March 2023 cookery school classes this Thursday.
We’ll have plenty of bread and pastries on the shelves all day, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.
Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu.
Our opening hours are:
Tue - Fri: 12pm - 6pm
Saturday: 8am - 1pm
Christmas last orders by this Sunday
If you want to guarantee your bread, pastries and mince pies for Christmas, you need to have your orders in by midnight this Sunday. This is so we can get our numbers right in what is our busiest week in the bakery.
Place your orders here please!
We will be baking more, of course, and plan to have as much as we can make on the shelves all week, but if you want that particular baked good, get your name on it now.
Our shop is now spacious
When the pandemic hit we moved our counter to the front door and it’s stayed there ever since. We couldn’t easily put things back because we’d ramped up bakery production (to compensate for the closed cookery school) and filled the old shop with fridges and cooling racks. So we’ve spent the last year trying to find a compromise — and this week the prototype is ready for testing.
The headline is, the counter has been moved back so we can fit more of you in the building and serve at least two people at once. This should speed up the queue no end, not to mention being able to hear your order when a lorry goes by. Hooray!
Our range of bread is displayed in the window. These loaves are for display only — you can get your bread at the counter as usual. As you’re queueing you’ll notice we have lots more space for local products and Loaf merch — do check them out!
As we said, this is a prototype. We’re going to be taking copious notes over the coming weeks to see what works and what doesn’t, so do let us know what you think. Then in the new year we’ll spend some time fitting it out properly.
More Loaf merch
Our first t-shirt went down very well indeed so we’ve had another run printed in different colours. Green, blue and grey t-shirts are £15 with black long-sleeve shirts at £20.
The new larger tote bag has also proven popular and the new run is a bright yellow print on a navy blue bag — £12.
And we have a new style of draw-string bag which we’re calling a bread bag because you can keep your bread fresh it in. But of course you can put whatever you like in there — £10.
We’re awaiting delivery of the new tea towels — watch this space.
You can check out all our merchandise on this page.
Give the gift of Loaf this Christmas
If you’re struggling for gift ideas, be aware that we sell vouchers.
Our cookery school vouchers can be bought in any denomination and can be used for all our classes. They come as a PDF that you can print out and put in a card. You can buy them online or in-store.
Our bread vouchers come in a cute pack of two, six or 12 with postcards and a sticker. They can be exchanged for loaves of bread in our shop. Order them online and we’ll post them to you, or you can pick them up in the shop.
Speaking of bread vouchers, don’t forget Rachel is hiding one a day around Stirchley for the annual treasure hunt, which is currently running on our Instagram account.
Cookery school classes released this Thursday
At some point on Thursday afternoon, if all goes to plan, we’ll be releasing the dates for a cookery school classes for the first quarter of 2022.
If you’d like to be one of the first people to know, make sure you’re signed up to the alert lists for your preferred class. This is a temporary list that expires after six months and is only used when we have new dates or spaces come free on sold out classes.
Lunches this week
Tuesday
- Curry: Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)
Wednesday
- Soup: Ribollita with sourdough (Ve) and optional Parmesan (V)
Thursday
- Focaccia sandwich: Roasted carrot and fennel with caraway hummus, toasted pumpkin seeds and rocket salad (Ve)
Friday
- Curry: Winter squash and chickpea with sourdough (Ve)
- Sandwich: Salt beef on challah
Tue — Fri
- Sourdough pizza: Mushroom, walnut, taleggio cheese and rocket (V)
Wed — Fri
- Ham and cheese croissant
- Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)
Tue — Sat:
- Sausage rolls
- Vegetable rolls (V)
Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.
Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.
Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!
Team Loaf: Sarah, Rach, Ian, Dave, Nancy, Dorit, Pete, Neil, Molly & Martha