The beautifully historic Crescent area of Salford received a new lease of life last week in the form of brand-new bakery and brewery, The Old Fire Station Bakery. Opening its doors last Tuesday (4 July), the new venue has taken over the red-bricked former fire station, bringing with it a menu of freshly baked brunch delights and homebrewed beers.
It was in late 2020 that we first heard rumours of plans to renovate the space, which was, back then, used by The University of Salford to accommodate its Council Chamber. The plans detailed a café space with indoor and outdoor seating, alongside a micro-brewery, that we now know to be Larkhill Brewery which has also opened at the back of the new venue.
The Old Fire Station Bakery houses an on-site bakery, where you can watch pastry chefs twist and bake croissants and bubbling loaves of sourdough. The venue offers warm crusty cobs, sausage rolls, cream packed Maritozzi and more alongside classic brunch and lunch dishes that are served from open until 2pm every day.
On the menu, you’ll find high-quality and local ingredients from the likes of Littlewoods butchers. The butchers supplies the bacon and sausage for the station’s breakfast brioche buns, which can be found alongside Lancashire cheese toasties, lemon chicken salads and fresh sandwiches on schiacciata bread.
The bakery closes at 5pm, so you can still pick up a handful of treats post-lunch, but the venue stays open for visitors looking to treat themselves to a well-deserved pint of homebrewed ale later into the evening. Expect opaque IPAs, stouts, lagers and more on tap and a rotating line-up of local, independent food traders that will be joining The Old Fire Station Bakery across the next few months.
The Old Fire Station is open Monday - Wednesday 8am-7pm and Thursday to Saturday 8am-9pm. Find out more here.