There is a wonderful duality in being a news reporter. Sometimes you're stood in the pouring rain at a crime scene, sometimes you're interviewing incredible people - and sometimes you're sent to try a festive Christmas dinner at Greggs.
I love the nation's favourite bakery as much as the next person, so I knew I'd hit the jackpot when my editor sent me to a Greggs event. Armed with an empty stomach and an open mind, I headed to a small studio tucked away in Salford for the bakery's Festive Bake Brunch, unsure of what to expect - other than pastries.
And pastries I got - both edible and decorative. For any adoring Greggs fan, this was truly heaven. Have you ever seen a giant neon steak bake? Now I have. - and so much more.
Guests were treated to platters of the bakery's famous pastries, including the humble sausage roll, as well as the exciting Christmas editions. As a vegan, I was well taken care of with my own plate of dairy-free pastries, including the vegan Festive Bake. Usually in my life, Greggs pasties are hastily scranned while out on a job, or when I'm in town and want a cheap and delicious snack. But yesterday, I ate them off a golden plate with a knife and fork - a true treat.
I went straight for the vegan festive bake, keen to try something new. Cutting into it (an alien experience for a delicacy usually consumed by hand straight from the paper bag), I was treated to a delicious bite of stuffing in a creamy sauce, teamed with a touch of cranberry. Not bad for a high street pastry.
While my pastries were a little anaemic, it only served as a reminder of the way they are usually given - not over a festive brunch with a drag queen singing as you ate, but over the counter of a small store on some British high street. While the brunch was fun, I think they are perhaps best consumed that way.
For dessert, the platters were refilled with a selection of dougnuts, cookies, and mince pies - and vegans were served a vegan glazed doughnut and a vegan mince pie. Stuffed from the previous pastries, I decided to save the doughnut for later but force a mince pie down - it's hard work, but someone has to do it. On the contrary to the pastries, the mince pie was deliciously warm and perfectly cooked, with all the spices and juiciness one expects from the seasonal delicacy. It may only be November, but this certainly left me feeling festive.
But perhaps the most memorable part of the brunch came not from the food, or the performers, but from a lovely drunk woman who truly won the afternoon after being gifted a Greggs hoodie for her enthusiastic dancing. Turning to me in the bathroom afterwards, she declared: "These....these are the days of our lives". She's not wrong. It's not everyday you go to a Greggs Festive Bake Brunch.
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