The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
MasterChef winner adds third bakery
After its pop-up shop’s success at St Andrews beach, the team behind the Newport Bakery will open its third premises after securing a permanent location in the town.
MasterChef 2014 winner Jamie Scott, who owns the Newport Restaurant in Newport-on-Tay and Hard Grind Coffee in Arbroath and Dundee, plus Wrecking Ball Doughnuts, will open the new bakery in May at 206 South Street, St Andrews.
The venture comes as a result of their successful collaboration with the Cheesy Toast Shack at the East Sands Beach, where they have been serving freshly baked goods for the past few weeks.
Jamie said: “We’ve looked at St Andrews for the last couple of years but decided to look somewhere else that better suited our needs at the time.
“I’ve been in contact with Sam, who owns the Cheesy Toast Shack, about working together and he offered me space to do something.
“That’s how we started the pop-up.”
The Newport Bakery has a large customer base from St Andrews, so it felt right to find a permanent home in the town centre.
This will allow those in the area to buy the firm’s bakes throughout the week, as well as during the weekend.
Jamie said: “Our new location will allow customers from across Fife to easily access their pastries.
“We didn’t think the pop-up would be this successful, I think we’ve sold out every day it’s been there.”
Jamie wants to bring a familiar feel to the new location but also adapt to the lifestyle of the busy student and tourist town.
At the other bakeries in both Dundee and Newporton-Tay, customers can expect a “low and slow” atmosphere for those who want to take their time to eat freshly-baked goods and coffee.
Meanwhile, at the new venue, customers can anticipate more of a cafe atmosphere, but still with some old favourites.
Jamie said: “The menu will be similar and have the same base content including our pastries, bread and sourdoughs.
“We want to adapt to the different clientele in St Andrews and to bring more of a lunch feel to the new bakery.
“We plan to introduce more lunch bites to the menu such as salads and sandwiches, whilst still incorporating our coffees from Daily Grind.”
The Newport bakery is looking to grow its team and is looking for bakers and confectioners to join them in its new venture.
Above all for Jamie, it is essential to show progression within the core team by moving them on to a new project.
“We are continually expanding with the team, therefore we tend not to hire senior positions. We always like to promote within the team first,” he said.