When the Aspex Gallery announced that they were excited to collaborate with Bread Addiction for their cafe, they held an evening of food tasting and I was invited along. Bread Addiction is an artisan bakery which sits on Elm Grove and without getting my stopwatch out I reckon is a 6-minute walk from my house to this bakery delight.

The founders of this bakery are Nikola and Ladislav. Their vision has always been over the last 3 years to provide simple ingredients to make the most delicious tasting bread you would want to buy and believe me this works. So many people queue up to go buy their signature sourdough bread. They are passionate about pastries too and always source ingredients locally. They have good values in wanting to provide Southsea with a good service and offer the local community the best baking money can buy.

Jo Bushnell the Director of the Aspex Gallery said she was very excited that Bread Addiction is managing the cafe and when looking around at caterers for the site that Nikola and Ladislav fitted in so very well with the vision for the gallery going forwards. Having a cafe on site on Elm Grove they already have experience in what their customers want and their favourite things to eat and so setting up at the gallery is a good venture for them.

The first part of our food tasting evening was tasting lots of plates of sliced sourdough with various toppings. My favourite was the ham with olives on top. There were sandwich fillings too like good old egg mayo and tuna. There were salad and small bites. Next to follow were dessert plates. Mince pies and a Christmas chocolate and hazelnut log which is currently being sold in the shop and in the Aspex cafe. I don’t eat much cake that has too much cream etc because it makes me ill but I tried a little bit of the log and it was delicious. My favourite food was the mince pie having a very deep base with a wonderful filling and not too much pastry on top. Having a star shape as the topping made it in perfect balance to make a good mince pie!

When I first moved to Southsea 6 months ago I was so eager to find the best local gallery and the Aspex hit all the notes for me as the space is very relaxing but also has drama. Having been a naval storage before it has great doors that grab your attention and a huge space. Based at Gunwarf Quays means on family art days you can spend time at the gallery then go shopping. Saturday’s are great days for visiting the gallery with my family as most Saturday mornings from 11 am there are drop-in sessions. As my little boy now 7 loves drawing, art and creative activities I am constantly looking around for sessions for him to get involved in and for me Aspex delivers that. The foundation stone for the Vulcan building in which the Aspex sits in was laid in 1811 and it is great that this old building sits nicely along the new buildings and new development of Gunwarf Quays.

The fact there is a nice cafe now on site doing excellent food makes it a lovely experience. The interior space around the cafe is light and airy with comfortable seating. Exposed brick, high ceilings and Tom Dixon lighting make for a cool sophisticated setting for a gallery and art space. When I spoke to Nikola one-half of the founders of Bread Addiction I asked her about cravings she may have. This is because she is pregnant and she said she loves the chocolate dessert items they make and has been testing them out every day 🙂 Good luck to Nikola on her baby arrival and can’t wait to go check out the new cafe this Saturday for Festive Family Fun Day from 11am. All art activities are free and will include decoration making and face painting!

Check out more info for Bread addiction on their website : www.breadaddiction.co.uk

You can find out more info on the Aspex Gallery by going on their website : www.aspex.org.uk