This is the weekly-ish bulletin from Loaf in Stirchley, with our specials, lunches and cookery school classes.
🍞 Pre-order your Bread and Pastries 🥐
Loaf will be open this year all throughout August!
Pre-order the bread and pastries during this quieter time to ensure you get what you want as we will be baking less to avoid waste. Please note there will be no Pain au Chocolat available on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the summer time and you can now pre-order Almond Croissants for Saturdays!
Our opening hours are:
Wed-Fri: 12-6
Saturday: 8-1
Visit us at 1421 Pershore Road, Stirchley, B30 2JL (map)
Sweets This Week
Mixed Berry Crumble Cake
Cherry, Pistachio & Chocolate Croissant Pudding
Peanut Butter Pretzel White Chocolate Blondie
Everything Blondie
Double Chocolate Cookies (Ve)
Saturday Sourdough Specials
Olive & Rosemary
Apricot & Walnut
No reservations - first-come, first-served.
This Week's Lunches
Wednesday
Tarka Daal with Sourdough (Ve)
Thursday
Emmer Grain Mediterranean Salad Box (Ve) optional with Feta (V)
Friday
Curry: Carrot & Potato with Sourdough (Ve)
Salt Beef with Pickles + Mustard on Challah
Wed - Fri
Sourdough Pizza: Artichokes, Capers, Mozzarella, Parmesan (V)
Wed - Fri
Ham and Cheese Croissant
Rocket Pesto & Cheese Croissant (V)
Wed – Sat:
Sausage Rolls
Harissa Sweet Potato Vegan Rolls (Ve)
Lunches are made fresh weekdays from 12 noon.
Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.
Cookery School Classes
As always all the cookery school dates with availability are listed below - click the links to book! More classes will be released soon for October, keep an eye here and on our socials to find out more.
Here’s what past attendees have said about some of our courses:
💬 “We attended a brilliant sourdough course with Rachel. Learnt so much and had loads of fun. Came away from the course with full tummies and so much bread!”
💬 “Attending the Dumpling making class in the cook school half. It was a well run, great event.”
All-Day Classes with Availability:
🥖 Simply Sourdough 🥖 - almost sold out!
Saturday 16th August & Saturday 27th September 2025 9:30am–4pm
Spend a day learning the art of sourdough where you’ll cover everything from caring for your starter to kneading, shaping, proving, and baking both wheat and rye sourdough loaves. You’ll take home your own dough to bake the next day, plus starters and full recipes to continue baking confidently at home.
🍞 Bread: Back to Basics 🍞
Tuesday 9th September 2025 9:30am – 4pm
Bread: Back to Basics is a day-long bread experience. In a world where real bread is so hard to come by, this course will equip you to make consistently good, wholesome bread at home. This hands-on course takes bread back to its essential ingredients – flour, water, salt and yeast – and teaches you a great repertoire of beautiful breads based on these basic building blocks.
🌾 Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker 🌾
Saturday 6th September 2025 9:am - 4pm
As well as all the practical hand-skills needed to handle dough with a higher proportion of wholemeal in, Tom Baker (one of the founders of Loaf) will help you to gain an understanding of the biology of grains (wheat, rye and spelt) and the value of using and eating whole grains in terms of both nutrition, economics and politics.
🥐 Sweet Breads & Viennoiserie 🥐 - almost sold out!
Saturday 20th September 2025 9:30am - 4pm
A hands-on course exploring sweet breads and viennoiserie. You’ll learn to laminate dough and bake treats like cinnamon buns, cardamom knots, hot cross buns, croissants, pain au chocolat, danishes, and more.
Evening Classes with Availability:
🥟 Dumplings 🥟
Tuesday 16 September 2025 6:30–9:30pm
You’ll learn to make dumpling dough and fillings from scratch, including vegetarian, pork, Sichuan lamb wontons, and crispy fried dim sum-style wontons.
🔪 Knife Skills & Maintenance 🔪 - almost sold out!
Tuesday 23 September 2025 6:30–9:30pm
Learn how to prep with precision. Lap will guide you through essential knife grips, cutting techniques, sharpening, honing, and care—skills that elevate every kitchen routine.
Coming Soon:
Baking with Heritage Grains - more dates will be released.
New Jams & Preserves making course - dates to be released soon!
Sausage & Charcuterie (with Lap-fai Lee): More dates will be released for autumn.
Seafood Masterclass (with Lap-fai Lee): More dates will be released for autumn.
Ramen (with Lap-fai Lee): More dates will be released for autumn.
Booking Info:
All equipment, recipes, aprons & refreshments provided.
Please check the individual class restrictions for dietary requirements and allergies, and get in touch with any queries.
Spaces are limited and booked on a first-come, first-served basis upon receipt of payment. We require 100% payment in advance for all of our courses.
Neil Holland: From Loaf Student to Loaf Teacher
We were really proud to see our colleague Neil featured by the Real Bread Campaign in their latest ambassador profile. The article tells the story of how Neil came to be part of Loaf and why he’s so committed to what we do.
Neil’s connection with Loaf began about 15 years ago, when he joined one of our bread-making classes — back when Loaf was still run from Tom’s home in Stirchley. He remembers the first time he baked in Tom’s wood-fired oven in the back garden, and how that experience inspired him to keep baking at home.
A few years later, Neil was invited to join Loaf as a member of the worker co-op. The values of shared responsibility, equal pay, and making decisions together really resonated with him — as did our mission to build community through good food.
These days, Neil runs our “Bread: Back to Basics” course, the same one that first got him baking. He brings an easy-going approach to teaching, helping people gain confidence in the kitchen and making sure mistakes are seen as part of the learning process.
Neil also cares deeply about the role Loaf plays in Stirchley — supporting the high street, collaborating with other small food businesses, and helping the local community thrive.
You can read the full Real Bread Campaign article about Neil here.
Give the Gift of Learning!
If you’re thinking of gifting one class but you are not sure which one would be preferred you could buy a gift voucher instead.
Our vouchers can be purchased in any value you like for redemption against future bookings. Vouchers purchased online will give you a downloadable pdf which can be emailed to the recipient directly, or to you for printing and giving to them by hand. Alternatively you can come to us and buy vouchers in the shop.
Thanks for all your Continued Support
See you soon!
Michael, Dave, Lee, Fliss, Neil, Molly, Zahrah, Mina, Rach, Pete, Andy, Kate & Dorit
Address: 1421 Pershore Road, Stirchley, B30 2JL - map
Website: loaf.coop
Updates on: Instagram
Review us on: Google | Tripadvisor