Sisters Hannah and Rachel Dare run this bakery, food shop and vegetarian café near the centre of Bantry town.
The bakery produces a delicious range of breads, cakes, pizza etc, with spelt loaves a particular speciality, while the healthfood shop is well stocked with a wide range of carefully selected products including fresh organic fruit and vegetables, local cheeses and some unusual wines (including Irish, Organic and Fair Trade), as well as natural remedies and cosmetics.
The cafe is in a spacious first floor room (with internet connection), where they offer tasty snacks, breads and cakes from the bakery, and lunches including splendid salads.
Rachel, a Ballymaloe-trained cook, is the force behind the menu, which is based on organic vegetables, salads, pulses, (spelt) flours and raw cane sugar - and even the milk in the Fair Trade organic latte is organic too.
Local free range and artisan foods also feature farmhouse cheeses, butter, eggs and, for the non-vegetarian, the most interesting fact is that dishes such as minestrone soup, which are usually dependent on a good meat stock, are full of flavour. And yes, even their little wine list is organic.
The staff are especially pleasant, knowledgeable and efficient, and it's good value for money - well worth a visit.
