Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
F E AT U R E<br />
Exceedingly good bakes<br />
SUTTON COLDFIELD BAKER SEBASTIAN CLOUGH HAS PUT HIS BUSINESS ON THE MAP WITH<br />
ARTISAN OFFERINGS AND A HUGE ARRAY OF TASTY TREATS. AMY NORBURY DISCOVERS MORE<br />
When customers have been happily queueing for<br />
an hour or more to get their bread and cake fix<br />
throughout the coronavirus lockdown, you know you<br />
must be onto a good thing.<br />
Tucked away down a quiet lane in Four Oaks,<br />
OnTheBreadLine has been enticing hungry<br />
punters with an array of baked goodies, from classic<br />
sourdoughs and intensely flavoured focaccias, to<br />
brilliant brownies and cakes galore. When the little<br />
bakery shop opens at 9am people flock to pick up<br />
their treats, eager to get in early before things sell out.<br />
Amid the doom and gloom of the pandemic, it<br />
is refreshing to see a small, independent business<br />
adapting and thriving - thanks to the dedication and<br />
drive of its young owner.<br />
Baking has long been a passion for 24-year-old<br />
Sebastian Clough, who opened OnTheBreadLine<br />
based at his family’s farm just over two years ago.<br />
And his hard work, extraordinarily long hours and<br />
oodles of culinary creativity have seen the little<br />
bakery flourish - and none more so than in these<br />
strangest of times.<br />
“A couple of weeks into lockdown is when it just<br />
went crazy,” says Sebastian. “Social media has made<br />
a huge difference, but also a lot of it has been people<br />
out on their daily walks and finding us that way.<br />
BREAD HAS ALWAYS BEEN A<br />
FAVOURITE FOR SEBASTIAN<br />
“I’d definitely say that I’m one of the lucky ones,<br />
because not many people have been able to stay<br />
open. And I’ve had amazing support from customers.<br />
“I think we saw a change last year where people<br />
were more conscious of using local businesses, but<br />
now I think that feeling is stronger than ever. Your<br />
local butchers, your bakeries, independent local<br />
businesses - people are really valuing them. And I<br />
love supporting small, local businesses myself and<br />
putting back into the community.”<br />
While lockdown has meant that many of us have<br />
barely left home during the past three months, for<br />
Sebastian, that way of life is par for the course.<br />
“My mum says that I haven’t been out for the past<br />
two years,” he laughs.<br />
“A lot of people say they don’t know how I do it, but<br />
I just love it too much; that’s what it comes down<br />
to. And if you love your job, it’s not really a job -<br />
I’m doing what I want to do and it doesn’t feel like<br />
work.”<br />
Starting at around 8.30pm in the evening, Sebastian<br />
bakes through the night, finally finishing when the<br />
shop opens at 9am. After a couple of hours’ break<br />
he’s back in the kitchen prepping his sourdough<br />
before grabbing some much-needed shut-eye in<br />
the late afternoon, ready to start again once<br />
8.30pm comes around.<br />
This dedication stems from the fact that<br />
baking is all Sebastian has ever wanted to do.<br />
He fell in love with all things food at a young<br />
age, inspired by watching television cookery<br />
programmes - with sweary chef extraordinaire<br />
Gordon Ramsey an early foodie hero.<br />
“When anyone ever asked me what I wanted<br />
to become, it was always a pastry chef,”<br />
says Sebastian. “All my mates wanted to be<br />
footballers, police, firefighters and that kind of<br />
thing, but mine was always pastry chef.”<br />
At the tender age of just 13, Sebastian spent<br />
his school holiday doing a taster course in<br />
6
Change language