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20
Jan
Baltzersen’s announces major change
The owners of the Scandinavian café Baltzersen’s have announced that their café will close to make way for an expanded bakery shop.
The café on Oxford Street in Harrogate, will close on February 23 for a two-week refurbishment.
It will re-open with a larger counter displaying breads and pastries made at the café’s bakery production unit.
It will also offer hot and cold sandwiches plus savouries, an expanded food retail section, bread slicing station and 28 seats for guests.
Once the new unit opens the existing bakery shop, located on the same street, will close.
Co-director Paul Rawlinson, a former British Army officer, said:
We know that a lot of people will be disappointed to hear that the café is going to be changing.
There are many guests for whom a visit to Baltzersen’s has become part of their lives, even family traditions during certain times of the year — our own children have never known a Harrogate without it. As business owners we have to make responsible choices for everyone that works in our team and we believe that this is the best way forward.
Co-director Katie Rawlinson, a former NHS dietitian, added:
We’re a small business and trying to operate and communicate two brands with different models just doesn’t make sense anymore. The growth of Bakeri Baltzersen over the last five years make it the obvious choice to move forward.
We’re now looking to the future where we can focus all our attention on growing and strengthening a single brand. The people of Harrogate have supported us through plenty of challenging times over the years and we hope we can count on that as we start this new chapter for the business.
Baltzersen’s, which opened in 2012, is a café that offers Scandinavian-inspired meals alongside a selection of pastries and cakes from their bakery. It was also the location for the restaurant Norse, which operated there from 2014 to 2017.
Mr Rawlinson named Baltzersen’s after his Norwegian grandmother, Liv Baltzersen, in 2012.
Bakeri Baltzersen is a retail and wholesale bakery specialising in artisan breads and pastries including sourdough and viennoiserie.
Products are made daily in a facility seven kilometres outside of Harrogate and delivered to more than 150 wholesale partners in North and West Yorkshire as well as to its own shops in Harrogate and Wetherby.
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