A bread store for the senses opens
A bread shop with a twist has opened in Nelson.
Walking into Heritage Breads in Montgomery Square is a treat for the senses. The smell of specialty breads wafts through the air, colourful tea towels cover dozens of artisan breads.
Opened nearly a month ago in the former Greek Foods store, 17 varieties of bread border the shop from ryes and sourdoughs to fruit breads and herb plaits. It’s just a small selection of the 50 breads on offer from the bakery and the collection is growing all the time.
Heritage Breads owner Chris Wilson started baking when he was 14 years old, ‘‘before school, in the afternoons and weekends’’.
Thirty-five years later, Wilson is still baking and loving it.
‘‘It gets in your blood.’’
He said when the bread comes out, ‘‘you smile’’.
‘‘Myself and the other bakers, something will come out and look good and you go, ‘Check this out!’, because it just looks good or there’s something about it - you made that from nothing.’’
Wilson is a third generation baker. Both his dad and grandfather ran bakeries in Nelson. His grandmother’s family also made their crust getting a rise out of dough in the region.
‘‘So we’ve been involved right back to horse and cart times.’’
Heritage Breads approach could really be the best thing since sliced bread, although Wilson said that saying was misleading due to the the introduction of sliced bread preceding a 50 per cent dip in New Zealand bread sales.
Wilson said he liked to help customers choose their bread out of the smorgasbord on selection.
‘‘You go along and go; ‘Oooh that sounds nice’ and I go; ‘Let’s cut a piece up and try it’.’’
The history, ingredients and how to pronounce the difficult names is all on display.
He also has breads for celiacs and customers with a gluten intolerance.
Wilson had a European approach to bread, ‘‘different breads for different things’’.
And the best way to store bread? Not in the fridge, he said. A good old fashioned bread bin was the best way to make bread last or in the freezer if getting through a loaf took a while.