Bread & Butter, the popular bakery and café in Grey Lynn, is marking a decade on the Auckland sourdough scene by making it even easier for people to enjoy its wares.
Founder and owner Isabel Pasch, who opened Bread & Butter in 2013, is celebrating the 10-year milestone with a series of organic sourdough masterclasses and a new online ordering platform for retail orders.
The bakery and café in Westmoreland Street West houses a large commercial bakery alongside its café. While the commercial bakery caters mainly for hospitality clients, it’s also accepting advance orders from the public through its online shop via the new platform. The order cut-off is 12pm the day prior with options for collection or delivery.
In an average week, Bread & Butter bakes to order 4,500 pastries, 3,500 loaves of bread, and 9,000 bread rolls.
Meanwhile, the café side of the business continues to serve the local community with a wide range of pastries, cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and more, along with an all-day breakfast and lunch menu that features the best of locally grown seasonal produce.
Pasch was the first to make organic sourdough commercially available in Auckland back in 2013 and is marking the 10 years by bringing back her popular sourdough masterclasses for keen amateur bakers and those who have some experience in working with leavened doughs.
The classes first began in 2016 but had lapsed due to being short staffed, but with a full team now on board, the new series of classes will take place at Bread & Butter Café every Wednesday evening from August 9 to September 27.
Led by Pasch and one of her senior bakers, each class will teach sourdough enthusiasts a simple but versatile recipe that can be used for loaves, rolls, baguettes, pizzas, and even cake.
The classes include hands-on bread-making with organic ingredients, along with a drink and a sourdough pizza to enjoy. Participants will also receive a recipe book, plenty of fresh-baked goods, plus their own live starter culture to take home and use for their own sourdough journey.
Pasch, a trained microbiologist, science journalist and author of the BreadPolitics blog, has long been on a mission to make organic bread more accessible to New Zealanders.
“I am immensely proud to have been able to call myself a baker for the last 10 years,” she says.
“Being a baker means being part of one of the oldest professions, one that dates back around 10,000 years.
“By using organic and locally produced ingredients, by bringing people together for shared family brunches, by providing real, proper healthy food, bread, and little sweet treats, I hope we’ve been able to make a positive difference in our local community over the past 10 years.
“I also hope that by bringing back these sourdough baking classes, I can help others who share my love of baking and nourishing loved ones with good bread.”
The new Bread & Butter sourdough masterclasses will begin Wednesday August 9 and will run from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. The classes are limited to 10 at a cost of $150 per person which includes a drink, pizza, bread to take home, a sourdough starter and instructions for using it. For more information about the class and bookings, see breadandbutter.nz.
The Bread & Butter online ordering system can also be found on the website at breadandbutter.nz/shop. Order cut off is 12pm the day prior.
About Bread & Butter:
Bread & Butter is a bakery, café and retail store co-founded by Isabel Pasch in 2013. Located in Westmoreland Street West, Grey Lynn, Bread & Butter specialises in traditional European and naturally leavened sourdough breads. All breads are made from certified sustainable or organic ingredients. In the cafe you will find a wide range of pastries, cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and more, with the cafe offering an all-day breakfast and lunch menu, featuring locally grown seasonal produce and bakery heroes.
Bread & Butter’s ancillary services include out-catering with a number of options to feed a small group or a large crowd, an online store with daily deliveries, wholesale deliveries, sourdough baking classes and more. You will find Bread & Butter stalls at the weekly Grey Lynn Farmers Market and Parnell Market. For more see www.breadandbutter.nz.
