How The Revel Bakery rose from the ashes

The Revel Bakery in the hamlet of Little Walton near Pailton, Warwickshire, was founded by bakers Maurice Hartnett and Lac Hincu.

Their philosophy is that good ingredients, time and zero additives leads to great-tasting products. The approach has paid off.

Maurice Hartnett mans the ovens

In 2015 they opened Revelicious – a patisserie – in Rugby’s Churchside Arcade. With Lac and her patisserie skills at the helm, Revelicious began wooing Rugby with sweet treats from macarons to cakes and tarts. On top of all that, the talented team offered bread and macaron courses to pass on their skills and spread the word, with rave reviews coming in.

In June 2016 a blaze ripped through Malt Kiln Farm Shop, Revel Bakery’s old home, decimating the building. In one night, everything Lac and Maurice had worked for was gone and they were left facing an uncertain future. Four months later, after lots of work, Revel was reborn in its current Little Walton home – a former woodworking workshop complete with its aptly named oven, Phoenix. Hidden down a tiny lane with wheat fields all around, it seems the perfect place for a bakery.

Lac (left) and Alice at the opening of The Revel Bakery’s new premises in Little Walton

Maurice said: “It’s like when you want to buy a house. You see all sorts that tick the boxes but they’re not quite right; then you walk into one and think, ‘this is it, this is the one’. That’s what it felt like.”

As soon as they could, Lac and Maurice, along with Revel’s third baker Alice, got in there and started turning out their trademark loaves ranging from white to wholemeal to sourdough and focaccia, all with names that tip a nod to the local area like The Fosse, The Malt Kiln, The Monks Kirby and, of course, The Revel.

Today, the Little Walton site is a bustling wholesale production site for The Revel Bakery. To try Revel loaves head to Revelicious, the refurbished Malt Kiln Farm Shop, and a growing number of places across the area.

Revelicious in Rugby is one of Great Food Club’s recommended independents – click here for more information.

Photos: Jamie Gray