Our story — est. 2019
It beganwith a jarof wild yeast.
the origin
A tiny flat, a temperamental oven, and a starter called Clementine.
In 2015, Mara Okafor — then a set designer — started baking bread to fill the quiet hours between theatre seasons. Her first loaves were flat. Her fortieth were the best thing on her street.
She sold them from a folding table at the Saturday market, wrapped in brown paper and hand-stamped with a little flower. People came back for the bread and stayed for how it looked: scored like sculpture, piled like a still life.
Butter & Bloom opened on Linden Street in 2019, built on one stubborn idea — that baking is an art form, and everyone deserves a little art before breakfast.
The baker'sphilosophy.
i.
Slow is a flavour.
Long fermentation, cold proofs, three-day lamination. Time is the one ingredient we never skimp on.
ii.
Hands over machines.
Every croissant is rolled, every loaf scored, every cake piped by a person who cares how it turns out.
iii.
Beauty is a duty.
Food that looks this good makes people slow down. And slowing down is the whole point.
The pantry
Ingredientswith names.
tap an ingredient to meet it properly ↓
Butter
Cultured, 84% fat, Meadowlane Dairy
We culture our cream for two days before churning. It's the reason our croissants taste like hazelnuts.
Butter Croissant$4.50The process
We startwith flour.
From grain to golden in five unhurried steps. Most of them involve waiting.
4:00 am
01Gather
Flour.
Every bake begins with grain we can name the farmer of — heritage wheat, rye and spelt, milled on stone.
02Mix
Hands.
Dough is mixed slowly and kneaded by hand until it's smooth, elastic and just a little bit alive.
36 hrs
03Ferment
Time.
Then we wait. Up to 36 hours of slow, cold fermentation builds flavour you can't rush or fake.
6:00 am
04Bake
Fire.
Into a 260°C deck oven with a blast of steam — crusts blister, layers puff, kitchens smell like heaven.
7:00 am
05Bloom
Joy.
Out on the counter by seven. Still warm, still crackling, ready for you.
01Gather
Flour.
Every bake begins with grain we can name the farmer of — heritage wheat, rye and spelt, milled on stone.
02Mix
Hands.
Dough is mixed slowly and kneaded by hand until it's smooth, elastic and just a little bit alive.
03Ferment
Time.
Then we wait. Up to 36 hours of slow, cold fermentation builds flavour you can't rush or fake.
04Bake
Fire.
Into a 260°C deck oven with a blast of steam — crusts blister, layers puff, kitchens smell like heaven.
05Bloom
Joy.
Out on the counter by seven. Still warm, still crackling, ready for you.
scroll to knead →
From grain to golden in five unhurried steps. Most of them involve waiting.
eleven years, one starter
The timeline.
2015
A starter named Clementine
Mara Okafor feeds her first sourdough culture in a rented flat kitchen and refuses to let it die.
2017
The Saturday table
Loaves sold from a folding table at the Ashbury farmers' market. Sold out by 9am, every week.
2019
Butter & Bloom opens
A tiny corner shop on Linden Street with one deck oven, two bakers and a hand-painted sign.
2022
The croissant years
Pastry chef Theo Lindqvist joins. Lamination becomes an obsession. Queues form around the block.
2026
Still blooming
Twelve bakers, a bigger oven, the same starter. Everything is still made by hand, every morning.
Still madeby hand.