Angharad from Ty Melin Bakery tells us a bit about their business…
Before we even met each other, Lance and I knew, independently from each other, that we wanted to own and run our very own bakery.
I was born and raised in Cardiff, and from about the age of 8 years old, I was obsessed with all things food, I would make experimental 3 course meals for my family, some great, some questionably horrendous! I would relish the thought of going to Wally’s every Saturday morning with mum and being able to choose from the continental meat and cheese counter, and that was it, I had
my heart set on owning my very own, family run, bistro/deli. It never came to fruition,
considering I was only 8, haha. But the fire still burned inside me to be able to contribute to the food scene of Cardiff somehow.
Fast forward 16 years, I am a trained artisan baker, studied intensively at the School of Artisan Food for a year. I then went onto work for Hobbs House Bakery in the Cotswolds as an in-house patisserie chef, then onto running my own pastry section in a hotel in France and on returning to the UK, I helped to set up a number of artisan bakeries and finally heading up a bakery in Hackney, East London with Lance.
I was ready to head home and start something special for ourselves.
Lance has always had a strong work ethic, coming from a hard working family, Lance used to spend his spare time as a child working hard in the kitchens of restaurants around Blackpool with his dad who was and still is a head chef. Lance lived and breathed food, that has never left him, and it never will. Lance left the comfort of Blackpool and headed South, where he has worked for Marco Pierre White, Michel Roux Jr at Le Gavroche and finally moving to Bath, where he worked at the Priory before entering the world of bread with Richard Bertinet. Lance became obsessed with bread, “Richard was a great mentor, and I still look up to him today. He gave me the fundamentals of bread making and that will always stay with me.” Lance moved on to become head baker at such establishments as Hart’s in Bristol and Harrods in London.
We met through our love of baking and classic cars, we instantly connected and have been inseparable ever since.
Getting to work with each other feels very rewarding, whilst we both work both sections, Lance is very much a lover of all things lamination and I am a complete bread geek.
We love what we do and being able to supply the people of Cardiff through Ty Melin Bakery is an absolute dream come true.
We have been overwhelmed with the response we have had so far and cannot wait to expand our product range and offer more of what we love, once we’re settled into our new unit.
We didn’t expect to open our business during Covid but we adapted and have able to continue our dream of Ty Melin Bakery through testing times for everyone. We love to supply in Cardiff as this is where I grew up and I always knew I wanted to contribute to the food scene of Cardiff as I love the city so much. I have moved away so many times in my life but I have always felt the pull of home. Lance loves the friendliness of Cardiff, and has found settling in very easy. He’s very excited to be able to bring what we love to do to the people of Cardiff, people are extremely friendly here and we love to see people and have a chat with them when out on deliveries.
As we are starting out on our journey of owning our own business, we don’t have much advice to give, but what we have learned from working for others over the past 10 years of experience. The best thing is know your craft inside out, live and breathe it, love it.
If you love what you do, it will shine through. When tough times hit, try and diversify to be able to keep doing what you love.
Shout out to our favourite indie food businesses of Cardiff, at the very very top of this list is definitely Brodie’s Coffee Co in Gorsedd Gardens, great family, top business, wonderfully friendly customer service and fantastic coffee! Kapow Ribs by John Cook are insane, everyone must try that rib meat Mac N Cheese! Dusty Knuckle are a great company to look up to, big respect to Phil and his family, absolutely love their products and their ethics when it comes to the slow food movement and sustainability of their produce! Last but not least, Brød bakery in Pontcanna, we have great respect for Betina, she has really nailed a niche market and it is wonderful to see traditional Danish baking having a place in the heart of Cardiff.”
