The New Bread on the Block: Rough Edge Bakehouse

Matt from Rough Edge Bakehouse has set up a small batch sourdough artisan bakery over at Y Shed in Meliden, Prestatyn, and supplies to an ever-growing selection of local businesses & cafes.

I went to pay Matt a visit in the early hours of the morning to find out about what makes his bakes so unique to the area.

About Rough Edge Bakehouse

I’m not a precise baker. If you catch me using tweezers during my baking, put my head in the oven! I’m certainly not clinical -  my bakes are all about the flavour.

All my bread products use a mix of organic strong white, wholemeal, spelt and rye flours from Shipton Mill. The plan in the future is to work with more local mills or to use biodynamic regenerative flour once the business has been running for a while. Using organic flour can sometimes be harder to work with than mass produced flour, but that’s all part of the fun.

You can get a load of sourdoughs that are just plain white, but there is no real depth of flavour. All my products have got at least 30% wholegrain based flour in it, creating that natural sweetness, that grain, and the health benefits that come with that…obviously my cinnamon buns are not quite the healthiest!

If things are a bit wonky – so what? It will still taste good. People will buy it if it tastes great.

Before Rough Edge

I had worked in the charity sector for most of my life, but fundamentally I knew I wanted to do something different. During this time, I worked my way through some mental health issues, and as a result knew I needed to put myself first. If I didn’t do it now, when was I going to do it? I didn’t want to look back and regret not doing anything about it.

I had been baking bread for a number of years at this point, so pursuing a career in baking ticked all the boxes from a practical & personal point of view. I was in the fortunate position to re-train and did so at The School of Artisan Food. I trained here for six months, and learned about all things baking and patisserie.

Throughout this time, I saw an opportunity to move back to Wales. There wasn’t anyone really doing this in the area, in particular sourdough. So I’m happy to now be bringing my bakes to North Wales. There is a strong food scene brewing thanks to some fantastic producers, and I’m excited to be part of that.

Where to Find Rough Edge’s Bakes

• Botanical Babe Plants (Llandudno)

• Briggs Wine Bar (Colwyn Bay)

• Caffeina (Prestatyn)

• The Clean Cottage Co. (Rhuddlan)

• Costigan's Coffee (Rhyl)

• Dudley & George's (Llandudno)

• Haus (Colwyn Bay)

• Tu Mundo (Prestatyn)

• Deli on The Hill (Prestatyn)

• The Grate Cheese Deli (Colwyn Bay)

• The Natural Choice (Rhos-On-Sea)

• Tu Mundo yn Y Shed (Meliden)

… and plenty more to come.

Matt will be introducing online pre-orders very soon, where you'll be able to select a pick up location.

Follow Matt on Instagram to stay up to date! Thank you again for letting me see you do your magic at an ungodly hour!