Latest news with #KNEAD
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New high-end bakery opening in Oxford in time for summer
A new high-end bakery will be opening in Oxford city centre in time for the summer. KNEAD Bakery, a growing bakery brand with three other stores in a neighbouring county, will be opening its first Oxfordshire store in High Street, Oxford this June. The award-winning bakery will be taking over the former site of women's clothing brand Hobbs at 115 High Street. READ MORE: Train delays between Bicester and Thame due to 'obstruction' Serving up sweet treats like brownies, blondies and flapjacks, top notch coffee from Extract Coffee Roasters in Bristol will also be on offer. To sample their award winning eats, customers can try their signature sausage rolls, Great Taste awarded pecan and maple danish and almond croissants, and Taste of the West awarded sea salt and rosemary foccaccia. Stay connected to the heart of Oxford for less! 🚨 Our flash sale is ON: get trusted local news for just £5 for 5 months or 40 per cent off an annual subscription. Don't miss out — subscribe now! 🗞️👇 — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) April 29, 2025 KNEAD was founded by "The Baker Boys" John Hawes and Kris Briggs over their shared passion for baking and principles of tradition, quality and seasonality. CGI image of the new KNEAD Bakery coming to Oxford in June (Image: KNEAD Bakery) The duo brought their experience from working together at a two-Michelin star hotel to the successful venture, which has three sites in Gloucestershire. Since opening in 2020, KNEAD has also begun to offer KNEAD on wheels, a mobile bakery bringing lunch foods and sweet treats to workplaces and villages across the business's original county. READ MORE: Burberry which has Bicester Village store is cutting jobs Its first site in Oxfordshire, KNEAD Oxford will also offer home delivery via KNEAD by post, available on its website. The company has hinted at further expansions in high streets across the South West and beyond. KNEAD Oxford will be open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, and Sundays 8am to 5pm, opening in June this year.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
The Elixir Evolution At Upscale Restaurants And Bars
Non-alcoholic elixirs featuring functional ingredients are becoming staples on high-end bar and restaurant menus worldwide. getty At some of the country's most experimental restaurants and hotels, the cocktail menu is losing its monopoly. In its place, a new category is rising. Call it the elixir era. The term 'elixir' now appears on non-alcoholic drinks lists from the East Coast to the West Coast. These drinks promise more than flavor. They offer energy, relaxation or cognitive focus. Generally, an elixir refers to a non-alcoholic beverage made with functional ingredients—such as herbs, mushrooms or botanicals—intended to deliver specific physical or emotional effects beyond simple refreshment. The growth comes as traditional alcohol sales continue to slip. Diageo, one of the world's largest beverage companies, reported its first decline in sales since the pandemic. Restaurants across the U.S. are also seeing a dip in alcohol purchases. The shift toward functional, non-alcoholic beverages is also reflected in broader market performance. The global non-alcoholic beverage market was valued at $1.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to more than double, reaching $3.8 trillion by 2034. In the United States, exports of non-alcoholic drinks rose to $2.9 billion in 2024, a 2% increase from the previous year, indicating not only growing domestic interest but also rising international demand. For beverage directors like Darlin Kulla, who oversees the bar program at KNEAD Hospitality + Design in Washington, D.C., the shift is a logical progression. 'I see it as the natural progression of the craft cocktail era,' she says, via email. 'A lot of research, care and time goes into selecting every ingredient behind the bar to put in front of guests the most beautiful cocktails so that naturally we also had to explore and put the same care into the non-alcoholic selection.' At KNEAD's psychedelic-inspired concept, Sagrada, the bar features non-spirited pours enhanced with ingredients sourced from NOHM Collective elixirs. Some examples include the 'MerJito,' which draws from the structure of a mojito, and 'MerKola,' a botanical cola alternative. In one drink, the 'Jack Frost Non-Spirited Pour,' NOHM's MerJito is combined with St. Ember Little Saints, a lion's mane mushroom-based spirit. 'Overall, elixirs will provide a much more intense depth of flavor with more complex aromas and shifting taste profiles that will evolve with each sip,' says Kulla. 'Ingredients such as ginger, turmeric, lion's mane, probiotics or even a bit of caffeine in ceremonial cacao, offer an immediate feel-good boost.' This complexity also allows beverage teams to use elixirs in new ways, such as a varied approach to food and wine pairings. 'The earthy components and flavor profiles from kombucha or ginger for example are very interesting to pair with meaty, fatty dishes,' Kulla says. In Todos Santos, Mexico, the boutique wellness hotel Desierto Azul features a full elixir program built into the bar menu. Owner Fabrizio Cavallo spent much of his career marketing spirits for large global companies. But he sees this new category as more than a passing interest. 'They are not non-alcoholic drinks. They are functional and emotional drinks,' he says. 'And more than anything, they do have a story to tell. A story of ancient and exotic ingredients, of tradition and rituals, of body and mind nourishment.' Cavallo says he defines elixirs as 'a beverage with functional and emotional features, where the selection of ingredients is critical to deliver a specific benefit.' 'It finds its roots in alternative medicine or ancient tradition,' he continues. 'That being a remedy like anti-flu, anti-inflammatory, a functional stimulation, like energy-boosting, or an emotional benefit like relaxing or aphrodisiac, to just share a few.' Elixirs now appear in beverages across several categories, including hot or iced drinks offered in place of lattes, shaken beverages served at bars and restaurants and juices blended with added compounds for functional support. 'Today's consumers are redefining the rules of entertainment,' he says. 'There is no doubt the last decade was defined by a growing interest for a healthy and holistic lifestyle. The pandemic accelerated that as more people look for alternative ways to keep healthy.' He also notes that elixirs are beginning to replace the usual go-to drinks at his properties. 'Our Whole Bakery & Elixirs, launched a year ago, has a full elixir menu, hot or iced,' he says. 'While we don't do pairings, our elixirs are thought to be offered as an alternative to a coffee or latte for those who want a delicious drink with health benefits to go with our sweet baked goods, like muffins and cookies.' Cavallo is now expanding the program, and the option to have alcohol is just an add-on. 'That totally shifts the paradigm to focus on the benefit of the beverage first, and the alcohol is only for those who want the booze,' he explains. That balance—between effectiveness and pleasure—is central to both Cavallo's and Kulla's approach. 'If the elixir effectively delivers the benefit but does not taste great, it will never make it to our menu,' says Cavallo. 'A not-so-good tasting elixir is the mistake some beginners may do, which can have a negative impact on the whole category.' Kulla agrees, noting her team investigates how ingredients are sourced. 'Taste is very important; it must be delicious at the end of the day,' she says. 'Though currently there is a boom of interest, and it seems more trend-like, I believe the best of these elixirs will stay with us and become a part of our general beverage culture well into the future.
