TL;DR:

Mabel is an independent bakery run by Dan (formerly of Ottolenghi, Pophams and Lille Bakery) and Lucy (formerly of Nando’s, BrewDog and the world of PR). We open three days a week, baking with East Anglian flour and a sourdough starter called Stinky Pete. What began as a small bakery has grown into a community of customers who queue around the corner, know the brown paper bags and keep coming back for more.

Keep reading for the full story…

Flour, water, salt, time

On the surface, yes. Simple. Ancient, even.

But our loaves start with organic flour grown here in East Anglia, farmed in a way that gives back to the land. No additives. No preservatives. No shortcuts.

They're brought to life by Stinky Pete, our sourdough starter. He's been bubbling away for three years and came to us from Denmark. He needs feeding, warmth, attention. We worry about him when we're away. We've taken him on holiday.

He is, genuinely, family.

Then there's the waiting. Every loaf takes three days from first mix to finished bake. Dan shapes each one by hand: mixing, folding, resting, proving, scoring, baking, before lining them up in the window, quietly proud of every single one.

Because he is.

They go out into the world in a little brown paper bag, hand-stamped with the Mabel mark. You see them tucked under arms around town, on kitchen counters, popping up in Instagram stories. A small thing, but it seems to mean something.

So yes, flour, water, salt, time. But it's also Stinky Pete. It's East Anglian soil. It's Dan's hands and three days of patience. It's a bag people recognise.

Here's the thing we didn't expect when we opened: what we didn't see coming was the people.

The ones who come in every week and end up telling us things, real things. The dad who's struggling. The one who just got the all-clear. The teenager who needed somewhere to be.

In those few minutes over the counter, something happens you can't fake.

We remember your stories. We ask after your dog, your mum, your last holiday. We celebrate the wins and we show up in the hard bits too. The connections we've made over loaves have changed us.

The bread is almost beside the point

Three people sitting on a bench outside a bakery. The bakery sign above them reads 'SOURDOUGH PASTRIES.' The person on the left is wearing a gray cap, black t-shirt, and brown apron, drinking from a cup. The middle person has a beard, is bald, and is wearing a black t-shirt with an apron, drinking from a cup. The person on the right has short dark hair, wears a striped shirt and sunflower-patterned apron, and is smiling, while the fourth person is only partially visible.
Three people sitting on a bench outside a bakery. The bakery sign above them reads 'SOURDOUGH PASTRIES.' The person on the left is wearing a gray cap, black t-shirt, and brown apron, drinking from a cup. The middle person has a beard, is bald, and is wearing a black t-shirt with an apron, drinking from a cup. The person on the right has short dark hair, wears a striped shirt and sunflower-patterned apron, and is smiling, while the fourth person is only partially visible.

More than just bread

Mabel was always going to be a bakery. We didn't know it was going to be this.

We run makers markets in the square. We support the Swan Youth Project's summer lunches. We host supper clubs, late nights, pizza parties. We collaborate with other small businesses. We give treats to every dog. We litter pick in the rain.

None of that is the bread. All of it is Mabel.

So to the man in the white van who shouted “It’s only f*cking bread” AT US: you weren't wrong. It is bread.

But to the people who queue for it, who carry it home, who come back week after week, and to us, who get up before dawn to make it, it's everything.

Shelves stocked with loaves of house sourdough bread in brown paper bags, with a handwritten price sign.

Dan trained as a pastry chef with Ottolenghi, became head baker at Pophams in London, then moved to Copenhagen to bake at Lille Bakery.

Lucy cut her teeth in hospitality with Nando's and BrewDog, later moving into operations at a PR and marketing agency.

they make a dream team

WHO WE ARE

TOGETHER, They moved back to Lucy's hometown in Norfolk and found the perfect spot on the high street.

Mabel the bakery opened in March 2024, and the rest is history.

A woman and a man standing at the doorway of a glass greenhouse. The woman wears a red knit cap, a black coat, and a colorful scarf, and is smiling. The man is dressed in a dark jacket and blue knit cap, with a beard. The ground is covered with small gravel stones, and a black iron bench is to the left of the door. The greenhouse is filled with plants visible through the glass walls.