How exactly did the notion arise that man cannot live on bread alone? There’s little more rewarding than purchasing a crusty, just-plucked-from the-oven loaf and anticipating the nirvana that inevitably follows. Bread lovers are fanatical in their pursuit of the ultimate loaf, usually hand-crafted by voluntary insomniacs whose good fortunes and moods are dependent on this most humble of foods.

The people
Adam Robinson is one such fanatic and his Glenwood Bakery, which opened in January, is Durban’s destination du jour. His tour de cuisine has taken Adam from his native England to the KZN Midlands (where he opened The Corner Post restaurant after deciding to “retire” from his busy restaurant life in London) and, finally, to a quiet suburban street in Glenwood.

The food
“I started baking because I didn’t have a particularly good time with the restaurant, cooking the sort of food the great and good people of Howick wanted me to cook for them. I entertained myself by getting into baking then and found people liked my bread. I put a chef in the kitchen and ended up with a bakery and supplying bread out the back of the kitchen,” he says.

“I now want to be more production-based rather than retail-based. Three ingredients – water, salt and flour – and the variations you can make with those are amazing.”

Five different breads – ciabatta, baguettes, potato and rosemary, rye and seed sourdough and whole meal sourdough – plus one special bread are produced daily along with grissini, croissants and pain au chocolat. Adam’s next mission is to introduce a bagel.

Breakfast is quite simply toast or croissants (while they’re still available) and, on Saturdays, eggs benedict and eggs royale. Lunch segues into a slightly bigger menu with three sandwich options. Their hot dog is a boudin blanc boiling sausage on a mini ciabatta or baguette served with good mustard.

Given the bakery’s popularity, Adam says he has been talking about perhaps extending the menu. “Part of the reason for me baking is to bake, not to have a pseudo-café or pseudo-restaurant,” he says adamantly, before conceding, “My wife and I are quite restless people; very enthusiastic and we talk a lot about ideas. Things won’t stay the same!”

To the backdrop of blues or perhaps a classical overture, and with just one assistant on hand, Adam lovingly handcrafts an array of bread and stubbornly refuses to increase production at the expense of quality.

“I would like my breads to be better, not more. I have increased my production as time has gone but I want to get more adept, experiment different folding techniques, slow fermentation, quick fermentation…” Adam muses. After walking to work, Adam’s 13-hour day begins at 3am and he adheres to a bread timetable that customers have come to plan their day around.

How would Adam describe the perfect loaf? “First of all, a perfect ciabatta is different to a perfect baguette. I’ve never eaten a perfect loaf but it should have deep flavour in the crumb and deep flavour in the crust. It’s not about the flour being stronger; just a long, long flavour.”

Service
It’s all very casual here. Catch the waiter as they walk past – and they’re always circulating in the small space – or order directly at the counter. Staff members are friendly, gladly make recommendations and will also talk you through the baked goods for taking home.