A popular Newcastle bakery is delighted to see an increase in interest following praise in a national newspaper from a renowned food critic.
Grace Dent singled out FAB Bakery's almond croissant in The Guardian last week and since then the sweet treat, already one of the Fenham shop's best-selling products, has had customers talking - and buying. And the bakery, whose name stands for Fresh Artisan Bread, welcomes the surprise boost in business, with owner and founder Shynara Bakisheva saying "it's fantastic".
In the paper, Dent - who recently reviewed Khai Khai in the city - included a photograph of the shop's almond-encrusted bake, with a description saying: "Maybe the North East's greatest almond croissant from Fab Bakery in Newcastle". The bakery shared the news, which since then has been sparking the increasing interest, and it turned the spotlight on Jan Bachini as the creator of its 'viennoiserie' - Austrian-style breakfast pastries - calling her "the soul of the bakery" and saying "we wouldn't be FAB without her", adding: "Well done Jan. That review was for you and Team Sweet."
Read more: The story behind the creation of FAB Bakery
It seems many people already shared the opinion of Dent - whose other local reviews include Kenny Atkinson's Solstice restaurant which has gone on to win a recent Michelin star - as the croissants are always a sell-out. And since the Guardian mention, the bakery reports: "We've sold more croissants, and definitely had people mentioning Grace Dent, which is lovely."
Among the customer reaction on the bakery's Facebook page to Dent's 'maybe the greatest' comment was "No maybe here: it definitely is". Others wrote "My favourite croissant too" and "everything that comes out of the bakery is ‘the best’." More comments included: "Awesome"; "definitely the BEST almond croissant we’ve ever tasted and that is comparing all over Europe too. Well deserved Jan" and "we’ve never had nicer croissants anywhere in the world! Almond pain au chocolat is to die for - completely delicious unbelievably good! Thank you again, you make magic pastry."
Shynara opened FAB Bakery in Fenham Hall Drive in 2020 and it quickly proved a hit with its artisan range of bread - it specialises in sourdough - alongside the likes of extras such as patisserie, cinnamon buns and those croissants. She told ChronicleLive: "We were absolutely delighted to see Grace Dent recommend our almond croissants in the Guardian. Our Sweet Team craft absolutely amazing products, and we were so proud to see Jan's viennoiserie work being praised.
"The almond croissants were already a best-seller but we've had several people coming in mentioning Grace Dent's review this week, which is fantastic." For more about the bakery, whose products also currently range from feta and chilli focaccia to pizza dough and all-butter brioche burger buns, see its Facebook page here.
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