Bakehouse Awards 2023 - Part 2

Bakehouse Awards 2023 - Part 2

Introduction

As mentioned in last week’s post, I’m continuing with a few more awards for 2023. It was getting a bit lengthy, and I saved an idea. Yes, we're rolling up on the end of January, but I’m forging ahead anyway. This week, we’re revisiting the best places I visited and videos I watched in 2023.

Best Bakery of 2023

Today, when you step into a bakery, you might as well be stepping into a café. It seems that most bakeries have expanded their offerings. In a modern world where food is readily available in supermarkets or online, it makes sense that these establishments offer more than just bread and cakes. To stay financially viable, bakeries have embraced the café culture fervently over the past decade, providing spaces to unwind and slow down. Although it's lamentable that the classical bakery of the past has largely disappeared, I enjoy the upgraded challenge of the modern café, with its superior treats.

I’m not keeping my winners exclusively to independent local or chain establishments. In my opinion, all these places compete on the same court and offer a similar array of products. Since starting this blog, my dining experiences, albeit with smaller treats, have become more frequent. I have a plethora of places to choose from when selecting the best.

While I'm drawn to a few local spots like a distracted magpie, my winner for 2023 is Gail’s.

Although I didn’t find the flavour of the coffee exceptional, I can't say that it particularly stood out at any venue. However, the food at Gail’s was fantastic; I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it had great visual appeal.

There is a chain of Gail’s bakeries, but the one I visited was in Guildford.

I sampled their delights in December on a pre-Christmas jaunt, which was fortunate as they were serving their light-as-a-feather Christmas bun. The autumnal mushroom quiche was also wonderfully savoury and earthy.

Although not purely a thoroughbred bakery, the food all looks perfect, with so much visual appeal. I did spot some Babka, which I'll have to try. It's probably a good thing that I don't have a local Gail’s, as I'd be there far too often. I got way too excited looking at all the produce.

The cosy vibe doesn’t seem to be emphasized anymore in a café environment; sitting upstairs in a quiet shopping courtyard was a bit odd yet somehow cathartic.

In 2024, I hope to check out more venues and explore this somewhat unfamiliar part of the foodie world.

Best YouTube Channel of 2023

More specifically, I’m referring to foodie YouTube channels, as you probably guessed. There aren’t loads of food-related channels that I regularly watch, but there are a few.

This award was particularly challenging for me because there are two standout favourites: Sorted Food and Cupcake Jemma. After careful deliberation with, well, myself, the winner is Cupcake Jemma!

This was such a hard decision to reach, with far more importance placed on it than it deserves, considering the unlikeliness of heavy traffic passing through this article, let alone using it as a YouTube channel guide.

I love watching both channels; they both provide great foodie coverage and have that extra element of fun mixed in. Cupcake Jemma nudged ahead slightly because of the consistency of the content quality; on occasion, although rare, the Sorted Food channel can become a tad bland.

What I really love about the Cupcake channel is the level of enjoyment that always shines through, and I always feel like I’m learning something. Each week, there’s something to cook along with at home, which is great fun and keeps you feeling connected to the content.

Granted the offering is almost exclusively on the sweet side, I've made many recipes from the videos, including a wonder combination, white chocolate and raspberry muffins, and the most indulgent chocolate cookies, that you wouldn't believe are vegan.

Below is a link to their channel, go check them out, if you somehow haven't already.

https://www.youtube.com/@CupcakeJemma

Best Event of 2023

As much as I enjoyed a few outings in 2023, one event stands out. The most-read post on this blog, by far, and quite exclusive, this one stands on its own plinth. Of course, I’m talking about the Earthshot Prize and Sorted Food collaboration.

This day was magical from start to finish. Being part of a small group of community members invited along to a mystery foodie event was cool enough, but this was beyond expectations.

Being served possibly the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had, even being veggie burgers, by Prince William was surreal and awesome. The beer at the Hiver Tap was pretty good too.

I won’t elaborate hugely, as my inaugural post was focused purely on this event, and as I've said already, it's my most viewed literary piece. If you haven’t read it, take a look. I appreciate I'm talking about my own work, but it’s genuinely interesting.

https://www.ommnisbakehouse.com/2023/08/ommnis-first-adventure-sorted.html

It’s worth noting that as cool as meeting the guys over at Sorted and Prince William was, the best part was arguably meeting new friends, specifically Sophie, a fellow attendee, who’s been great fun to get to know.

2024 Incoming

Okay, 2024 is already here, but it's still early days. I don’t know where this year is headed, but I’m certain there’ll be more foodie adventures and experiences. I've already looked into a couple of events to attend—more on those coming up—and I’ve got some new cookery books already that I can positively review.

I'm not into astrology; I do struggle to see why anyone would be, but at least it's the Year of the Dragon, which is cool, and the best Chinese zodiac year. I mean, it must be the best; I was born a Dragon, as was Bruce Lee!

This year, I plan to keep up with this blog, exposing myself to more foodie delights and sharing them with you.