Levens Hall Prepares to Make it a Baking Hot Summer

-       New Levens Bakery to open this month

An expansion at Levens Hall and Gardens may well also see South Lakes’ waistlines growing a little, as the much-loved Levens Kitchen responds to popular demand, increasing its capacity to create mouth-watering cakes, pastries and bread, through the launch of Levens Bakery.

Over three successful years, the fabulous eatery, with head chef, Robert Stacey at the helm, has been wowing foodies in the local area and visitors to the Hall and Gardens. Its first-class food and drink offering has acquired much-deserved respect, whilst the business has also scooped several awards. 

Whilst the Levens Kitchen menu covers both brunch and lunch and a wide variety of savoury dishes, it has always been the cakes and home-baked breads that have tickled taste buds the most.  An already high demand for these items has gone through the roof since Robert and his pastry chef, Mireia Ferreres Luna, appeared on TV show, ‘Bake Off: The Professionals’, in 2022.

Trying to keep up with the demand for these items has proved difficult, leading to the decision to take pressure off the existing kitchen, by opening a separate, self-contained Levens Bakery.  With state-of-the-art equipment and more operations space, it offers everything Robert, Mireia and two new chefs require, to offer the baked items for which the South Lakes customer has acquired such an appetite.

Creating the new Levens Bakery will also help maintain the extremely high standards of the existing Levens Kitchen and ensure customers there are not let down, when heading out for a bite to eat.

The new bakery will be housed in what was a 1960s lean-to and the former home of Bertha, a Fowler Showman’s engine, which departed for pastures new some years ago.  The artistic vision for Levens Bakery is that of Crosby Granger Architects, based in Kendal, and the physical transformation of the building is being handled by Carr Construction and Restoration Ltd.

Once complete and opened, with the projected date for that being late June, customers will discover a contemporary food service facility, complete with servery and seating area, behind the white-painted, lime-rendered walls.  The bakery’s external façade will match that of the rest of the elevation, on which work was carried out in December 2022.

Levens Hall and Gardens owner, Richard Bagot, says, “These are exciting times for us and our brilliant team of chefs, who have worked hard to acquire the culinary reputation that underpins such an expansion.  Our aim is to spread the love of our baked goods products further and make Levens Bakery a patisserie facility to which customers make a beeline, on a planned and deliberate basis, knowing that they can purchase amazing cakes and bakes, to either take home or perhaps enjoy in the gardens or nearby Levens Park.  

“It will be yet another string to our bow and cement Levens Hall and Gardens’ place on the food map of Cumbria.”

More information about Levens Hall and Gardens can be found at www.levenshall.co.uk where all news of Levens Bakery will be posted, as the weeks go by.              

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Editors notes

Levens Hall & Gardens is a historic house in the South Lakes, Cumbria, close to Kendal and home to the world's oldest topiary gardens, dating from 1694, created by French garden designer, Guillaume Beaumont. The Hall is a stunning Elizabethan house built around a 13th century pele tower and has close links to the Duke of Wellington, as well as various items which once belonged to him and Napoleon Bonaparte. Levens Park is home to the rare Bagot goats gifted to the Bagot family and a place in which to stroll and enjoy nature. Levens Kitchen is the contemporary new cafe, full of delights for cake lovers and foodies alike.