Bakestone’s new café on Perry Street exceeds expectations. Great sandwiches and oh, those pastries!

Bakestone’s new café on Perry Street exceeds expectations.

Great sandwiches and oh, those pastries!

While travelling on the continent a few years back, I was introduced to the amazing bakery culture, not just bread, of course. No, the town bakery was much more than a shop. Of course, you could get your bread and pastries, but you could also have your breakfast or more here.

Europe is, of course, well known for its diverse and delicious bakery culture. Many countries boast unique pastries and cafe experiences. AI tells me that Arán Bakery in Budapest is known for its sourdough bread and Hungarian pastries. Just wonder where that Arán came from.

Bagel

Ireland is fast catching up with bakery cafes, and I visited one, Bakestone, last week. Or, at least, I visited their latest opening, the superb 120-seat café in Perry Street; they are already well established in Fota Retail Park.

Arán agus cácaí, le croí is anam

In Fota, their expanded bakery creates fresh, innovative bakes every day. “Our breads are at the heart of our kitchen and menu. Baked fresh in-house every morning, our bagels and focaccia are the foundation of our signature sandwiches, layered with the finest ingredients and bold flavours. When our bakery and kitchen come together, the result is something truly special—quite possibly the best sandwiches in Cork!"

It is a well-based claim. For the past few years, I have been missing the superb bagels created by Bread and Roses. So I was already sold when I noticed a bagel on the Bakestone Menu. With chicken, avocado, salad, and a superb relish, it made my day!

Meanwhile, CL was relishing her Quiche, packed with grilled Mediterranean Vegetables, a side of leaves, and, of course, the Bakestone House dressing. The quiche, well priced at 9 euros, was so much better than two recent disappointing examples; it was just outstanding. Morning specials on the day included American-style buttermilk Pancakes, French Toast, and the Bakestone Brekkie. 

Specials from 11.30 am included:

Fish Finger Bap with Homemade Pickles, Tartar Sauce, Baby Gem Lettuce & Crispy Potatoes

Warm Chicken Salad with Smoked Cheese, Creamy dressing & Croutons

Crispy Portobello Mushroom with Bakestone onion marmalade, poached egg, Balsamic and honey dressing, and crispy potatoes. They also have a kids' menu!

By the way, not all the breads are their own. They also use the renowned Arbutus sourdough (in that brekkie, for example).

Hugely tempting pastries

We couldn't leave without tasting a couple of their hugely tempting pastries, all on display on the left as you enter. CL is something of an expert on apple tarts, and here, she gave top marks to the Bakestone version, loving those chunky pieces of fruit.

As I inspected the line-up at the counter, my eye was immediately caught by the colourful Mousse Dome. Love at first sight—or, should I say, at first bite, second bite, third…. Go on, get in there, and treat yourself. It went down very well indeed with my large cup of Badger & Dodo coffee.

Bakestone GM Neil Muscheidt  has been preaching “Support Local” for many years—not just preaching but practising it. The restaurant suppliers include East Ferry, Arbutus, the Allshire family Rosscarbery, Salmon from Ballycotton, Coffee by Badger & Dodo, and Tea from Barrys.

Like the Fota Retail store, it has a wall of Irish products proving very popular with locals and visitors alike. American visitors love nothing better than bringing home a gift with an Irish name on it. In that regard, the newish Kinsale Sea Salt should be a winner when the touring liners are in Cobh!

Restaurant Reviews (mostly local).

Dozens of current restaurant reviews here.

#invite

BAKESTONE CAFÉ & PANTRY CELEBRATE 10 YEARS THIS WEEK AND LAUNCH A NEW EXCLUSIVE COFFEE BLEND, COMMON GROUNDS

 BAKESTONE CAFÉ & PANTRY CELEBRATE 10 YEARS THIS WEEK

AND LAUNCH A NEW EXCLUSIVE COFFEE BLEND, COMMON GROUNDS

Proprietors Joe and Maura Carey with, left, Neil Muscheidt (Bakestone)

Bakestone Café & Pantry was founded by Cork natives Joe and Maura Carey in 2013 in Carrigtwohill. It offers an all-day menu with a focus on high-quality locally-sourced ingredients.

Brunch is popular in Bakestone and you can expect all the classics, Eggs Benedict, Eggs Royale and Eggs Florentine, plus family-friendly posh Buttermilk Pancakes with Poached Pear, Salted Carmel and Vanilla Mascarpone, or traditional French Toast with Maple Syrup and Bacon. At the weekends the Bakestone Full Breakfast with locally sourced produce is the cure to all ails. 

The lunchtime offering changes daily, depending on what's seasonal and what’s fresh. Expect homemade quiches, six different types of salads each made daily in-house along with  Arbutus sourdough breads and in-house relishes and pickles.

In 2018, Bakestone Café added a new retail element to the business in the form of The Pantry which sells a wide variety of local artisan products and baked goods. The Bakestone Pantry highlights over 150 Irish producers including many of the best Cork producers plus a whole range of homemade Bakehouse chutneys, jams, pickles, relishes and dressings.

In 2018 Bakestone also opened in Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens. Bakestone in Fota House is open from March until the end of September 7 days a week and weekends from October until the end of February.

Happy Birthday!!!

Owner of Bakestone Café & Pantry Joe Carey is delighted to be celebrating ten years of following his passion for great food and for supporting local producers “We feel very honoured to have served the people of East Cork and beyond over the past 10 years, we cherish the relationships we've built with our wonderful food producers and suppliers, and we feel very lucky to have our wonderful Bakestone team collected around everything we do.”

To mark the celebration Bakestone has announced a very special partnership with Badger & Dodo by launching a new exclusive house coffee blend called Common Grounds.  This exclusive coffee blend only available to Bakestone, consists of washed Peruvian and natural Ethiopian beans that boast flavours of vanilla, milk chocolate and orange. Medium body with a smooth round finish on the palate. Founded by Australian Brock Lewin, Badger & Dodo has roasted coffee in Cork since 2008. The brand sources only the best beans available, from quality single-origin estates, with all blending done by hand. 

Common Grounds is available at Bakestone Café & Pantry, Fota Retail Park in Carrigtwohill, County Cork and Baketone @ Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens Fota Island also in Carrigtwohill, or buy online at www.bakestone.ie

Bakestone will celebrate its 10th year with a series of events taking place in Bakestone including a Meet The Makers event in Autumn. Keep up to date with the latest news by following Bakestone Café & Pantry on social @bakestonecafe

BAKESTONE CAFÉ & PANTRY CELEBRATE TEN YEARS IN FOTA RETAIL PARK

BAKESTONE CAFÉ & PANTRY CELEBRATE TEN YEARS IN FOTA RETAIL PARK

Common Grounds: Neil Muscheidt, Bakestone, Brock Lewin, Badger & Dodo,
and Joe Carey, Bakestone 

East Cork’s Bakestone Café & Pantry is celebrating

its tenth birthday in Fota Retail Park this month.

Bakestone Café & Pantry was founded by Cork natives Joe and Maura Carey in 2013 in Carrigtwohill. It offers an all-day menu with a focus on high-quality locally-sourced ingredients. In 2018, Bakestone Café added a new retail element to the business in the form of The Pantry which sells a wide variety of local artisan products and baked goods. The Bakestone Pantry highlights over 150 Irish producers including many of the best Cork producers plus a whole range of homemade Bakehouse chutneys, jams, pickles, relishes and dressings.

Joe said he is delighted to be celebrating ten years of following his passion for great food and for supporting local producers “We feel very honoured to have served the people of East Cork and beyond over the past 10 years, we cherish the relationships we've built with our wonderful food producers and suppliers, and we feel very lucky to have our wonderful Bakestone team collected around everything we do.”

All Irish at the Bakestone Pantry

To mark the celebration Bakestone has announced a very special partnership with Badger & Dodo by launching a new exclusive house coffee blend called Common Grounds.

Common Grounds, a house blend, is the result of a collaboration between the much-loved Cork café, which has outlets in Fota Retail Park and at Fota House, and Fermoy-based coffee roasters Badger & Dodo. Founded by Australian Brock Lewin, Badger & Dodo has been roasting coffee in Cork since 2008. The brand sources only the best beans available, from quality single-origin estates, with all blending done by hand. 

This exclusive coffee blend only available to Bakestone, consists of washed Peruvian and natural Ethiopian beans that boast flavours of vanilla, milk chocolate and orange. Medium body with a smooth round finish on the palate.

Common Grounds is available at Bakestone Café & Pantry, Fota Retail Park in Carrigtwohill, County Cork and Baketone @ Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens Fota Island also in Carrigtwohill, or buy online at www.bakestone.ie

Bakestone will celebrate its 10th year with a series of events taking place in Bakestone including a Meet The Makers event in Autumn. Keep up to date with the latest news by following Bakestone Café & Pantry on social @bakestonecafe.

Press release

Tastes and Producers of the Season. Christmas & New Year Treats

Tastes and Producers of the Season

Christmas & New Year Treats

Okay, let us start with bread. Make that cake! The arrival of Angela Nöthlings

German micro-bakery in Cork, specialising in organic artisan sourdough breads, especially rye, was a highlight of the year 2022. 

Her Stollen, the traditional German Christmas Cake, was a highlight of our festival days. And we can't forget her sweet "little" stuff: the decadent Berliner Brot, her shortbread fingers and her Salted Rye cookies, and more.

Stollen

The Germans have no shortage of sweet wines to pair with their Stollen. They also use Schnapps (which often has apples in its ingredients) and that put me thinking of something far closer to home.  

Pom’O is an apple aperitif made from rare apple varieties by Killahora Orchards in Glounthaune. The fruit is grown "in our 200 year old orchards on the south facing slopes of Ireland’s County Cork. We mix the juice from our bittersweet apples with the finest apple brandy, then age it in Irish whiskey barrels for at least a year."

They recommend serving it lightly chilled as an aperitif, with cheese or in a cocktail, with strong, nutty cheddar, fruit desserts. No mention of Stollen but I carried on regardless and the pairing was just perfect.

No bother in finding highlights. Another mega one was the Heritage Ham by James Whelan Butcher. And since we weren't entertaining on the big day, we had most of this beautiful piece of cooked meat all to ourselves (not all on the one day!). This award-winning Heritage Ham has already been lovingly cooked low and slow for over five hours. All we had to do was slice, serve and savour.  Our favourite accompaniment came via the Bord Bia recipe pages and was/is a Redcurrant sauce or glaze. You'll find a few variations here.

The perennial favourite Cashel Blue Cheese was again enjoyed, Wicklow Blue also and some Knockanore Cheddar. These were enhanced by our own Autumn Tomato Chutney made with some excess tomatoes from the back-garden, the recipe from BBC Good Food. 

Lomo

We've still got a few jars of that but will have no shortage of opportunities to use it. Another great match is the cold cured sliced Pork Fillet (lomo) from the Heart of Spain at Fota Retail Park where I had gone to get some of their Spanish wines and also to get Serrano (which was sold out). Here too I bought their Smoked Sliced Duck "Ham", another meaty gem. You could also have a mixed platter of cheese and charcuterie and the chutney will also do the business here! 

Also in the Fota Retail Park, I got myself a jar of the award winning Wild About Sloe Jelly from The Pantry at Bakestone. Very versatile indeed and it too goes very well with the cured pork, if used sparingly, and they also say it is great with duck or pate, so I'll be trying it with the duck. If you warm it, just drizzle it over desserts and ice cream and you have another winning combination thanks to this Wexford producer.

While I think of it, The Pantry was also my source for the Killahora Pom'O. That too was put through its paces with various bits and pieces and proved quite a match with the Stollen and also with our the cake and even more so with the pudding (from Barnabrow). 

Barrel aged beers tend to go well with Christmas pudding and we tried a few. Perhaps the best were the Brehon Oak & Mirrors BA Imperial Porter (7.5%) and the 9 White Deer Stag BA Export Stout (7.4%). Whiskey is almost always a winner with pudding - there was already some whiskey in the Barnabrow one - and the new 7-year old Single Malt from West Cork Distillers was a treat with it.

Barnabrow House Christmas Cake

We regularly get our hands on the Christmas double by Barnabrow House and got the cake and pudding in early this year when we bought them from the hard-working owner Geraldine Kidd who was selling them at the Ballymaloe Craft Fair. They are as good as ever!

Of course we had some other sweet bits and pieces around for the Christmas including regulars Mella's Fudge, Miena's Nougat and Turkish Delight, all bought on that visit to The Pantry at Bakehouse.

I'm thinking that this blog post may well be my shopping list for Christmas 2023. In the meantime, Happy New Year to you one and all.

Taste of the Week Mella's Salted Caramel Fudge

Taste of the Week

Mella's Salted Caramel Fudge

(or any fudge by Mella!)

When it comes to fudge, West Cork's Mella is the one for me. I recently bought a pack of her Salted Caramel at The Pantry in Bakestone (Fota Retail Park) and it is our Taste of the Week. But I know from past experience that any other fudge by Mella, including her Vanilla, her Rum and Raisin or Dark Chocolate, would be just as welcome by the taste buds.

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Mella is one of Ireland's Great Producers. Full 2022 list here!

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This particular one, the deeply caramel flavoured fudge, is West Cork butter combined with Irish Atlantic Sea Salt. And, yes, like all her fudge, this just melts in the mouth - no effort required - and the top notch salt adds an extra note or two to the combination.  Another symphony from the fudge maestro!

Not surprisingly, Mella's Fudge is widely available including at her online shop here! And she also has a seasonal special: Christmas Spice with Orange. Must get one (or more) of those myself!

Taste of the Week. Miena's Handmade Nougat

Taste of the Week
Miena's Handmade Nougat 

"Made in small batches with locally sourced fresh ingredients, I have developed a recipe different from those used in France and South Africa. The result is a unique and uncompromising soft Irish Nougat."  It is our Taste of the Week, not for the first time. Her kitchen by the way is certified gluten free.

There is a whole list of tempting nougat flavours coming from the lush countryside of the Glen of Imaal in County Wicklow these days. You may have different flavours:  Almonds and Pecan, Almonds and Passionfruit, Almonds and Pistachio, Almonds and Mixed Berries, Roasted Almonds,  Almonds with Rhubarb and Strawberry, plus various selection boxes and tins. Presents (Valentine maybe) sorted!

I got mine from Bakestone in the Fota Retail Park at Cobh Cross but these scrumptious prize-winning nougats are widely available, including in Dunnes Stores Simply Better and at Miena’s own online shop. For a list of stockists, please click here. Abroad, you can find them in Harrods and they also have clients in Belgium, Denmark and the US.

My treat from Bakestone was the top box here!

Bakestone Beef Hits The Spot After Wild Side Walk

 Bakestone Beef Hits The Spot

After Wild Side Walk

Nothing like a walk on the wild side to work up an appetite. And that old saying was proven once again last week when a walk on the very windy Harper’s Island was followed by lunch at the nearby Bakestone Café in the Fota Retail Park near Cobh Cross, just a few minutes away from the island wetlands.

There weren’t that many on the wetlands but it was a different story when we entered Bakestone for lunch. It was 2.00pm or so and the place was pretty full and this was a Tuesday. There is no booking though, walk-ins only. But they have a big open and bright space there and also quite a lot of tables in a well sheltered area between the glass wall of the main building and the garden centre around its south and east walls.

The first thing you see as you join the queue (a small one in our case) is a large breakfast menu and this is their signature offering. Many of my friends go there and enjoy it: all kinds of eggs, plain or  Benedict, Florentine, or Royale.  Then there’s Pancakes and French Toast and after that well you can try a pastry or cake from a large selection.

The lunch menu is not as extensive and, on a recommendation from our server, I picked a Beef Brisket Sandwich, the beef pulled, and served in a delicious bun packed with the meat, various greens and pickled cucumber. 

I picked from a large selection of salads and got myself a Beetroot one and also a Leaf one, each adding a euro to the basic price so that the sandwich cost a very reasonable €8.35 in total. They also do quiches here and they cost €6.25 each before add ons.

That beef sandwich was just the job after the walk and I was soon tucking in, really enjoying the flavour and the textures.  But is was quite substantial and it was finished at a slower pace! By the way, I noticed that quite a few people at nearby tables were enjoying breakfast dishes even at the hour!

After a pause, I decided on a cup of coffee and a pastry. Coffee is by Badger and Dodo so you are guaranteed a decent cup of Joe and I confirmed that for myself. The cake, a White Chocolate Tartlet with raspberries, was a really sweet one and half of it was packed into a serviette to be finished later on!. The main conclusion from the visit was that, next time, I would test that obviously very popular breakfast menu!

Harper’s Island Wetlands

The wetlands, open everyday 9.00am to 4.30pm, are a relatively new visit in the area. The entrance, with a small car park, is on the old Cork-Waterford Road, on the left roughly halfway between Glounthaune Village and Bakestone, just beyond the railway station but before the Elm Tree Pub.

Goodbye Geese!

Once parked, you make your way over an ugly concrete bridge and soon you are walking  onto the island. To your right, you can see Glounthaune village, straight ahead is the Cork-Waterford dual carriageway (the N25 or the East Cork parkway - its more fancier name), but mostly, including to your left, you see the wetlands and the various bits and pieces of this part of the backwaters of the massive Cork harbour.

Then you reach the first of the hides, a solid timber structure with plenty of openings for visitors to see the various birds. There are another two hides in the map and other points from where you may get close-up views. But nothing’s guaranteed as regards the wildlife and I was about to depart when I spotted the four large white geese in the distance.

What is guaranteed is a good long walk. When you come to the end of the first path (good solid surface, works vehicles have to get around here too, though there is no traffic as such), there is a looped walk that brings you back to this point again. 

Then you walk back to the car park with a view of houses on the slopes to the immediate north and you should be able to see too the house and farm where Killahora Orchards grow some of the earliest-ripening apples in Ireland and produce some very innovative products with their harvest. More on the wetlands here.

Other attractions close to Bakestone are Fota House and Arboretum, the Fota Wildlife Park, Barryscourt Castle (closed at present for OPW works), and Cobh (with its many attractions) is not too far away.