A COUPLE behind a new artisan bakery in Llandudno have celebrated its successful first day and spoken of their ambitious plans to grow their business.
Benjamin Lee and his wife, Dominika, opened the doors to Benjamin Lee Artisan Bakery at 21 Mostyn Avenue, LL30 1YS, for the first time yesterday (April 12), after roughly two years of planning.
Customers quickly filed in on opening morning despite the torrential rain, eager to be among the first to taste its range of patisserie, pork pies, pasties and more.
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With 30 years of experience to draw on, Ben has taken on the role of master baker and chocolatier, while Dominika, a former account manager, will be running the shop and café area.
The couple, who married last year, told of how opening their new business was a dream come true, and stressed their commitment to providing high-quality food made with care and attention to detail.
There will also be a particular onus on sourdough-based produce, and on embracing their Welsh heritage.
Ben said: “My ethos towards baking changed because normal bread just didn’t interest me anymore.
“We followed the Real Bread Campaign – no additives or preservatives, natural fermentation; a very European style of doing things, where you’re letting nature take its course. It’s all done in a proper three-day period.
“We moved here (to Llandudno), saw this a long time ago, and thought: ‘What a beautiful frontage’. It came up on sale, so we went for it.
“We’ve had our work cut out over the last two years, having signed for it just after COVID started. We’ve done the whole of the upstairs as well; it’s been a massive project.
“A big thing that we’re doing here is educating people about sourdough. We do ours by the book – a 24-hour cold fermentation.
“We’re fortunate because we have the time and facilities to do that type of thing. We just wanted to give something really healthy on the bread side, and really tasty on the cake side. Everything’s based around sourdough; that’s what we enjoy.”
Having refurbished the entire building, including the upstairs area, the couple are keen to create a bakery that is unique “on every level”.
Possible avenues towards expansion include residential opportunities upstairs, sourdough courses, and cooked breakfasts, with Ben adding that this is “just the start”.
He said: “We’re extremely proud of everything, because it’s all gone through a trial-and-error process. We wanted somewhere where we’d be happy to bring our friends and family, and be proud of it.
“We use a local butcher’s for all of our meats, and we’d like to push towards using Welsh heritage grain, because we’re obviously proud to be Welsh.
“It’s been very challenging; there’s a been of a heck of a lot to do to get everything right, and all of the staff trained. We’re not 100 per cent there, but we’ll definitely get there.
“We’ve got a team of eight, and we need another two bakers – I’m doing it on my own!
“This is just the start – we’ll be running sourdough, cake, chocolate and patisserie courses, and there are residential options with the upstairs.”
For their first day, the bakery was open until 4pm, and following a brief closure from Good Friday until Easter Monday, it will re-open as a six-day-a-week business, Tuesday until Sunday, from 8.30am – 4pm.
All of the bakery’s products are to be produced in-house by a team of professionals, with Dominika hoping to bring “French chic” to Llandudno.
Dominika added: “Constantly, people have said, ‘Wow, this is like France!’. We’ve tried many places and have been disappointed, so everything here is on such a different level.
“At some point, there will be proper cooked breakfasts; we will be evolving all the time.
“It (opening) has been stressful, because the responsibility is to make it successful and for everyone to enjoy it.
“We are very particular in terms of quality, and how it’s presented and served, but we need to set those standards.
“Everybody is so excited, it’s been absolutely unbelievable.”
For more information, go to: www.facebook.com/Benjamin-Lee-Artisan-Bakery-112687894665283.
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