March is set to be a tasty month, with new bakeries, cafes, restaurants and a deli all opening their doors across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk

Taste of America

Famed for the signature ‘shatter crunch’ coating on its Louisiana-style tenders - marinated for 12 hours before being hand-battered in buttermilk, breadcrumbed and fast-fried - all-American chicken chain Popeyes has arrived in Cambridge.

Opening on Market Hill last month, with free food for the first in the queue and live Mardi Gras music from the city’s own Brass Funkeys, the restaurant is serving all the Popeyes classics, including the cult-status chicken ‘sandwich’, a soft brioche bun filled with fried breast, pickles and mayo, with sides of Southern-style biscuits and gravy.

You don’t have to be a meat-eater to get a flavour, though: sides also feature spiced fries and mac-n-cheese, and the veggie-friendly Creole red-bean sandwich is made with a 100% plant-based patty, topped with lettuce, tomato, and classic Creole sauce.

Starting 49 years ago with a single restaurant in New Orleans, Popeyes’ fried chicken - billed as the “world’s best” - has since gone global, today being served in a jaw-dropping 2,700 sites, including London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford and now Cambridge in the UK.

For more information and the full menu, see popeyesuk.com

Daily Bread

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If their names are anything to go by - The Don, The Bastard, The Umami, Pumpernickel's Cousin - Neil Adcock’s sourdoughs are one of a kind. Made in his newly converted microbakery, housed in his Ely home and garden, the loaves have been honed over 20 years of hobby baking, with Neil finally deciding to go pro and launch Bread by Neil this spring.

“I have a special affection for really good sourdough,” explains Neil, whose polymathic past professions include research scientist, philosopher and graphic designer. “It’s bread in its oldest and simplest form, made from three simple ingredients – flour, salt and water. There are no hidden additives and the length of the process results in bread that is nutritious, digestible and with a lower glycemic index than industrially produced.”

Using local and organic ingredients wherever possible, including flour from Fosters Mill in Swaffham Prior, eggs from Manor Farm in Worlington and herbs from his own garden, Neil will be baking seasonally changing specials alongside his core loaves: The Don (100% white wheat), The Bastard (a blend of white wheat, wholemeal rye and wholemeal spelt), The Umami (with added Japanese miso and sesame seeds) and Pumpernickel’s Cousin (a lighter take on the classic, topped with rye flakes).

Baking on Wednesdays and Fridays from April 5, customers can pre-order online for collection from the back-garden bakery.

Orders are being taken from March 27 at breadbyneil.co.uk

Cafe Culture

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Open for brunch, lunch and all-day coffee, cakes and pastries, Cambridge Dining Company has just cut the ribbon on its first bricks-and-mortar site in the city centre: housed within the historic Fitzwilliam Museum, the new Courtyard Kitchen “focuses on seasonality and sustainability. . . using fresh, vibrant ingredients to make food you’ll want to eat”.

With signatures spanning seasonal salads, filled bagels, and scones served with classic jam and cream, “the newly refurbished, bright and comfortable cafe adheres to all ages and dietary requirements,” continue the team, “making it the perfect place to rest and refresh following a day perusing the galleries.”

The Courtyard Kitchen is open 10am to 4.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday and noon to 4pm on Sunday. For more follow @courtyardkitchen_cambridge

Little Gem

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When Covid lockdowns cut short her dancing career, Jessica Rix decided to pursue her other passion - baking. After training with the team at Cambridge’s award-winning Stir Bakery, she launched mobile cake and bake shop Little Jessie’s in a converted horse trailer. Fast-forward to today and she’s poised to open her first physical site on Newmarket’s Market Street.

“I decided to make the jump after seeing the space,” explains Jessica. “As soon as we walked in it was like my childhood dream had come true and you could just envision the snug, welcoming little takeaway venue it has the potential to be.”

Making everything fresh daily - from croissants, cinnamon buns, cookies, cookie pies, cheesecakes and traybakes to sausage rolls, sandwiches, focaccias and baguettes - Jessica will change the menu regularly, according to the seasons, available ingredients and customer favourites. Vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free options will be available.

With her dad Glenn helping with the shop refurb and sister Amy Greening and best friend Maelee Lavery on board as front of house staff, Jessica hopes to open this month. “I love being part of a community and bringing my passion for food to people, so having a permanent base allows me to do this on a bigger scale.”

Follow @little.jessies on Instagram for updates.

Creating a Stir

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Stir, the award-winning Cambridge bakery, is opening its first city-central branch this month. Set on Green Street, it will stock all the signature bakes loved by shoppers at Stir’s existing Chesterton, Histon and online sites - sourdoughs, bagels, brioche, brownies, cakes, cookies - plus “some new lines which we can’t wait for everyone to see,” say the team.

Born in 2017 from a frustration at a lack of top-notch bread, pastry and cake suppliers for Stir’s first Chesterton cafe, the sister bakery started life in a next-door unit with just three bakers; soon adding local bike delivery and a small wholesale service, the bakery scaled up during the pandemic when wider home delivery was introduced.

A second cafe site in Histon followed and, to keep up with demand, a dedicated bakery unit was set up near Cambridge North station - now home to “more than 20 talented bakers, cake makers and pastry chefs, all still making our products by hand, using traditional artisanal methods and the finest quality, natural ingredients.”

Stir has won numerous awards for its breads, notably Britain’s Best Gluten Free Loaf in the 2022 British Baking Awards and a gold medal in October’s World Bread Awards for its brioche bun.

Add the team: the time “feels right to open our first city centre shop, to really showcase our delicious Stir Bakery products and make them available to a wider audience.”

For updates follow @stirbakerycambridge on Instagram.

Raise a Glass

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Want to learn more about wine - and have fun while you’re at it? Billed as a chance to “spend a relaxed and informal evening with like-minded folk, learning about some incredible bottles and regions”, The Wine Rooms on Cambridge’s Hills Road hosts tasting nights on select Thursdays.

Coming up this spring are: Unexplored Italy: Reds (March 2), Pinot Noir: All but Burgundy (March 9), Lebanese Reds including Chateau Musar (March 16), Loire Valley Reds (March 30), Austrian Grüner Veltliner (April 6), Vertical Salanques, Mas Doix (April 13) and

Loire Valley Whites (April 20).

With tickets priced £30, the hour-long, sommelier-led sessions include tastings of at least five different wines, plus accompanying nibbles from chef Liz Young of The Modern Table.

The Wine Rooms hosts dinner nights too, further showcasing Liz’s culinary talents - the next one, March 29, takes a New Zealand theme, sharing both drinks and dishes from Liz’s homeland.

For more information and to book see thewineroomscambridge.com/events

Rosy Outlook

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A new chapter has begun for The Little Rose, the historic public house which has been part of the Cambridge streetscape since the 1830s. Most recently home to the city’s branch of Loch Fyne, it has been refurbished inside and out to the tune of six figures, to both highlight its period features and add contemporary creature comforts - snug seating, warm timbered walls and soft lighting all feature.

“The Little Rose has been around since the 1830s, so it was important to us that the refurbishment didn’t detract from the pub’s traditional façade,” says general manager Kevin Hunter. “Thanks to our brand new menu offering, guests will be able to enjoy a premium dining experience in a cosy and traditional setting all year round.”

Fresh seafood - including Colchester rock oysters, pan-fried sea bass and smoked mackerel arancini - remains a menu mainstay, with all-bells-and-whistles roast dinners taking centre-plate on Sundays.

To find out more and to book visit littlerosecambridge.com

Pasture New

Meadows, the neighbourhood ‘kitchen, cheesemonger and bottle shop’ in Newnham, has just opened the doors to a second site in the city. Located at Dutch’s Corner, 213 Mill Road, it promises “the same Meadows offering of sustainable food, drink, homeware and books,” says founder Suzannah Watson.

“We are also putting our own Meadows-made produce under a brighter spotlight, bringing our ready-to-eat cakes, bakes, soups, salads, ferments and preserves to the Mill Road neighbourhood. We are excited to have a bit more space to play with and, as well as having a couple of tables where people can enjoy our produce day to day, we aim to host talks, tastings and pop-up collaborations.”

Visit meadowscambridge.com and follow @meadows_camb on Instagram for updates.

Also:

* Grantchester’s iconic Orchard Tea Garden - where generations of great Cambridge minds, from Rupert Brooke and Virginia Woolf to John Cleese and Stephen Fry, have scoffed scones beneath the willows - has new owners. Lindsay Birkett and Milan Kovacevich, best known to local foodies as the founders of Flock Cafe at Burwash Manor in Barton, took the helm last month, promising to add their acclaimed home-bakes, soups and snacks to the menu.

* Inspired by an “amazing” cafe she visited while in Sweden, Suffolk’s Janet Warne is cutting the ribbon on Hygge, Hall Street, Long Melford this spring. Taking over the former Dilly Dally building, it promises Scandi-style food, drink and ambiance too: menu signatures, all scratch-made on site, will include cinnamon buns and meatballs with mash and gravy.

* Driven by popular demand - as anyone who’s ever visited will tell you, it’s a delicious destination for brunch, lunch, coffee and cake - FOLK Cafe in Fornham St Martin, just outside Bury St Edmunds, is expanding to make way for 12 extra tables, a flexible function space and additional parking. Plus, on March 26, it’s hosting a Spring Neighbour Market with the next-door Flower & Plant Hut, promising stalls selling everything from Suffolk-made gin to candles.

* Putting an East End classic on the Suffolk menu, the McDowell family - descended from generations of London pie-bakers - has just opened Gainsborough Pie & Mash in Sudbury. With everything, including both fillings and crusts, made fresh by the shop’s father-and-son team, expect traditional minced beef pies, creamy mashed potato and parsley liquor.