Pump Street Bakery

Hello everybody,

When we lived in New York, one of our favourite weekend pastimes was to have brunch.  There are so many places for this in Manhattan, ranging from chi chi restaurants with massive queues outside to old school diners where everything is supersized and you don't need to eat for a week afterwards.

So, I was a bit worried when we decamped to the house by the sea that we'd have nowhere to get our weekly fix of excellent coffee and tasty treats while we flicked through the sunday papers.  I need not have fretted.  Because not very far from where we live is the lovely and amazing Pump Street Bakery.

You know you're in trouble when even the lighting excites you

Their sourdough bread is just delicious, and they do a fab bacon rocket and lemon mayo bap.  Their savoury snacks really are good - fresh ingredients, locally sourced, with perfectly balanced flavours.

But the real treats, the things that keep us going back there time after time, are the sweet treats.  Doughnuts filled with jams - rhubarb or raspberry - or creme anglaise, or brownies or meringues.  Eccles cakes don't normally have me salivating at the sight of them, but one bite of these and I was hooked.  Every time I go, I debate whether to have an Eccles cake or a Portuguese nata (I'm a sucker for custard...)

There's a fire in winter and outside seating in the summer months.  And the simple decor perfectly complements the good simple food...

But the best bit for me is Cedric.

From Wednesdays to Sundays, Cedric can be found around and about, selling bread and treats to those who can't make it to the bakery.

So, you see, I needn't have worried.  Brunch is taken care of wherever we are.

And you needn't take my word for how good Pump Street is.  The bakery has a finalist in the BBC's Food and Farming Awards.  Hope it wins.

C.x

ps I have no affiliation with Pump Street Bakery.  I just like their stuff!