Last bake of 2013, done! Looking forward to some exciting new baking in 2014...

Well 2013 is drawing to a close and what a busy one it has been at the loaf. Our two shops and cafés have been busier than ever, with some great developments to the menu in Matlock in particular, thanks to the new team of Helen and most recently, Sam who joined us in September. The shop in Crich has also seen one or two new faces. Caroline is now a regular, front of house, with Adrian; whilst Matt has taken a full time role supporting Phil, our chef, in the kitchen. But change has also been happening behind the scenes. We are finally feeling more settled in the bakery with the team of Keith, Jaroslav and I as full time bakers and Imre as our full time apprentice baker. We are also supported by our bakery assistant, Jane and our cake-baker, also Jane! With this terrific team, supported by part time staff - Mary, Andy, Molly, and Jackie, as well as 'Market Mark' - the loaf feels in great shape for the new year.

I was lucky enough to get a couple of new bread books for Christmas - in particular one called 'Brot' from which I am very excited to try some new recipes. In particular, we would like to work on some new rye breads and some new indulgent breads for our Saturday bake - we don't think our range is quite big enough on a Saturday!

Very soon in the New Year, we will be launching new menus in both Crich and Matlock. So do look out for some tasty new treats added to our café choices. Also, don't forget that pizza night, though taking a break for a few weeks, will be back from 29 January. I am going to be doing a bit of research and development on new pizza toppings to tempt you on the weekly special. However, don't worry, I won't be following recent trends I have seen by introducing 'Roast beef and yorkshires' or (bizarrely in my view!) 'Kebab' topped pizzas!

We are open right now as I write providing customers with their bread for tonight's celebrations - so do pop in if you need some bread or would just like to have a bite to eat. We will be closing at 3pm and then are closed for a couple of days, reopening with normal opening hours from Friday.

So celebrate well and we look forward to welcoming you in 2014.

Happy New Year!

Andrew