Josh Helm and Tom Hishon – the duo behind Auckland restaurants Orphans Kitchen and Kingi – founded Daily Bread in 2018. It was a partnership with master baker Patrick Welzenbach, who has an extraordinary 22 generations of baking heritage and brought with him the 600-year-old sourdough starter that forms the backbone of the bakery’s goods.
Now with six locations across Auckland, Daily Bread has just this week unveiled its brand-new site in Britomart – which dwarfs its other venues and sets a new precedent for the prolific bakery.
The 177-seat, 300-square-metre cafe is in the Hayman Kronfeld building, and it replaces the team’s last Britomart offering: a takeaway operation in the Sofrana building next door.
The yawning heritage space has undergone a renovation by Peddlethorp Architects, retaining features like exposed brick, exposed wooden beams and concrete. There are low, easily moveable stools dotted about the place, as well as bar leaners and larger shared tables to cater for a variety of customers.
Working within a heritage site was a huge and, at times, challenging process, says Helm. “I feel pretty beaten up, to be honest, about the whole process,” he laughs. “All that mechanical, base stuff is pretty eye-watering – but I’m super proud to be open now, and it’s definitely our flagship store.” From the outside, it feels like they’ve been building up to something larger for a while, and Helm admits he’s been thinking about it for several years – it just took time to finance the upgrade.
They’ve brought on chef Yutak Son (ex-Te Motu Vineyard and Black Estate) to spearhead a menu that expands on the baked goods with an à la carte offering.
Now – along with your loaf, custard slice or ham, cheese and mustard croissant – you can order scrambled eggs on the bakery’s Southern Alps rye, or house-made granola with yoghurt-and-lemon-curd semifreddo . There are several filled bagels and toasties; a meatball sandwich; and subs stuffed with the likes of beef bulgogi and cheese, onion bhaji and tamarind, and calamari with house-made sweet chilli.
You can also order salads – including colourful tabouli, slaw, and roasted cauliflower with barley, walnut and herbs – and add roasted chicken or mushrooms for extra coin. This will no doubt appeal to the many workers all around Britomart: a wholesome option for the lunchtime rush.
Daily Bread Britomart is also licensed, so if you’d like a Mimosa, Spagliato Spritz, beer or wine with your Friday venison pie – they have the means.
Aucklanders love bakeries, but this one has a particularly dedicated following; you only had to bear witness to the rabid sell-out rates of that custard tart to catch it in full force. Did the founding team expect it to be this popular?
“We’re always surprised, but we’re super stoked,” says Helm. “We’re only as good as our last loaf, so we keep pushing to maintain the quality. We hire amazing staff – we’ve got some rockstars around us, which makes my life a hell of a lot easier. We do the simple things well, and that’s why we’re popular.”
Daily Bread Britomart
Hayman Kronfeld Building Level 1/15 Galway Street, Britomart, Auckland
Hours
Mon to Sun 7am–3pm
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