Tasting notes

The rise and rise of Gail’s bakeries

YOU CAN SMELL a Gail’s bakery before you walk through the door. The countertops are stacked with croissants and bread, including its 100 per cent rye sourdough stalwart and newer ‘porridge’ boules, made with barley flakes for a cakey crumb and pretty, pebbledash crust. It’s a tempting sight to draw in passers-by, and with 42 branches around the country, that is a lot of loaves to prove, along with flourless chocolate cakes, baked cheesecakes and pastries.

The business marks its 13th birthday this month, and the baker’s dozen is a cause for celebration for co-founder Tom Molnar. ‘When we opened our first bakery in Hampstead we couldn’t figure out the tills, so people paid what they liked. We weren’t sure what we were doing.’

The thinking behind its location was simple. ‘The first one was near my friend’s house, and the second one was near mine,’ says Molnar, who with his business partner Ran Avidan spotted a gap for artisan bakers in neighbourhood areas. Together with Gail Stephens, who owned The Bread Factory, they filled the shops with dark sourdoughs and freshly made sandwiches (Stephens has since left, but the name stuck).

There’s no doubt that Gail’s has space to expand further (earlier this year Patisserie Holdings, owner of Patisserie Valerie, was sniffing around to buy), but Molnar says he’s ‘ambitious but not in a hurry’. He recently spent a bank holiday cycling from bakery to bakery around London, racking up 35. ‘People ask if we can open one where they live, and I’m a guy who can’t say no. I want more people to have better bread.’ gailsbread.co.uk

Clockwise from top Tempting bakes on display; the original bakery in Hampstead, north London; co-founder Tom Molnar