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n my final two years of studying for my BA LLB at Wits I became obsessed with bread baking,” says Babette Frances Kourelos. As her passion developed, her mother stopped having to buy bread. “I was constantly handing out bread to friends and neighbours.”

When she graduated, Kourelos was told by a Labour Court judge that “if I wasn’t prepared to live, eat and breathe the law, I should consider pursuing another interest, which I did”.

I meet her in her bakery in Maboneng, Johannesburg, with her right-hand man, Washington Makoto. Dusting the flour off her jacket, Kourelos says the business is four years old.

“I learnt about artisanal bread baking from a French baker in Vermont — he’s been baking bread since he was 12 years old and later started taking on his own bread apprentices,” she says.

“Three months later I returned to South Africa with my own sourdough starter named Maggie and she is still going strong,” she says.

“Bread baking is tricky because wherever you are in the world, things like flour, weather and ovens are very different and I came back from the US feeling a little daunted, like I was back to square one and had to relearn everything.” She soon got into the swing of things. “Bread dough, just like cooking, picks up on your vibe and your mood is definitely reflected in the end product,” she says.

The Service Station in Melville was her very first customer. Today she bakes for a variety of clients, delivering excellent breads that include baguettes, French sourdough, rustic country loaves, rye and ciabatta. She even bakes mini rolls, which are popular with caterers.

There is a small cafe on the bakery premises that serves coffee and excellent sandwiches — on the bakery’s own bread, of course.