IT’S confession time again. Following my admission two weeks ago of the great Frenchgate Hotel flooring gaff, I feel the need to don the hair shirt again and tell you of a further editor’s misdemeanour.

This one dates back even further than the Frenchgate Hotel incident. It concerns the launch of the Clervaux Trust bakery, cafe and eco farm project in and near Darlington. I was invited to the formal launch at the Croft Hotel. All the great and the good were present including William Hague and assorted other community big wigs.

As the formal proceedings got underway, I stood there between Mr Hague and the leading bod from the sponsoring charity who explained what the project was about, and went out of his way to point that the local newspaper had got it entirely wrong in describing the young people with learning and behavioural difficulties who would be employed by the project as “rejects” from mainstream education.

I just shuffled from one foot to the other, looked at the ceiling and hoped the assembled dignitaries would think he was talking about the Echo. He wasn’t of course and while the word “reject” was accurate in a dictionary sense, it was mighty insensitive.

Since then I’ve enjoyed the Coniscliffe Road bakery’s fantastic (if pricey) bread, got to know some of the young people who have worked there and done my best to support its work.

But times have been hard.

In the last 12 months, the project has undergone a restructuring and the bakery/cafe side has been sold to its manager, Rick McCordall, who has embarked on a rapid expansion plan, opening new cafes in Northallerton, Thirsk and, coming in the new year, Stokesley.

The new cafes are called Olivia’s (after Mr Mc- Cordall’s daughter) but are closely modelled on the original cafe in Darlington which is still called Clervaux.

In Thirsk last Saturday, we called into the newest branch on the corner of the market square with large windows opening onto the square and Finkle Street – a superb vantage point for checking on who’s about town.

Like the branch in Northallerton, the decor is clean and simple. White walls, contemporary wooden furniture and, thanks to those huge windows, very light and airy. It was also a bit breezy thanks to the open door.

Still, this is also a shop where people are calling to pick up the various artisan breads which are at the centre of what Clervaux/Olivia’s is all about.

We started our lunch sharing an artisan mezze (£5.95) which if you think of a typical Mediterranean mezze was rather modest. Small pots of hummus, sundried tomato and olives (4 of them) with some hunks of organic bread and a little salad were no more than appetiser for two which I guess is probably what we were looking for. The stars of the show were the breads, wholemeal and white.

Sylvia then had the dish of the day – Spanish chicken (£5.65) – a leg coated in spices and roasted to be nicely crisp outside and moist inside.

My choice – quiche of the day (£6.15) – was leek and spinach and beautifully light and creamy it was too. But what was most notable was the wholemeal pastry case.

So often wholemeal pastry can be as soggy and heavy as an Irish bog. This was light and ever-so-slightly crisp. Beautiful.

Both dishes came with different salads, a mint and parsley potato one, a particularly aromatic wild rice salad which had all sorts of good things in it, including cranberries, coated almonds, mint and spring onions, and a crunchy coleslaw plus some winter leaves, cucumber and tomato.

Much of the green stuff came from the Clervaux trust eco-farm at Croft.

Other local suppliers, including Taste Tradition at Cold Kirby, are used as much as possible.

Service was helpful and pretty prompt. In tune with the Clervaux philosophy, Olivia’s works with Thirsk Clock to provide local young people with work opportunities and experiences.

With a latte coffee and a ginger beer, our bill was £22.25.

It is an honourable commercial enterprise and we hope it can build the scale and critical mass to sustain itself and keep an estimable bakery producing that wonderful bread.

Olivia’s Artisan Bakery & Cafe

  • 89 Market Place, Thirsk, YO7 1ET
  • Telephone: 01845-526166. Website: oliviasbakeryandcafe.co.uk
  • Open: 8am-5pm, Monday to Saturday 10am-4pm Sunday
  • Disabled access and lots of veggie options