James started baking after life-saving surgery. Now his bread is winning awards.

Speciality baking has boomed during the pandemic as people revive traditional skills. For baker James Partington, learning to make bread after heart surgery changed his life forever.

James Partington at his Sydney bakery Credit: SBS / Sandra Fulloon

It’s a busy morning at Staple Bread and Necessities in Sydney’s Seaforth. Customers are queued along the suburban street waiting to buy their daily loaf, in this case a naturally leavened sourdough.

“Our classic loaf is a combination of premium white and freshly milled flour and this particular one is our most popular,” says James handling one of the golden-brown loaves.

Baking starts well before dawn as James and his team hand roll wholewheat bread, baguettes, pastries and even vanilla slices which are made with rye and wholewheat puff.

And while bread sells out quickly, with only 150 classic loaves produced, customers keep queuing for coffee and buttery croissants.

“This is my first time here,” says customer Dana Fischer originally from Germany.

“I love croissants because I am from Europe. And I find it hard to get good croissants [in Sydney]. But I heard these are the best croissants in town.”

James takes pride in keeping the product range small, all baked onsite daily.

“We run weekly specials but our core product range of bread, croissants, and pain au chocolat never changes because the moment we take them off the counter, people get upset,” James says in his bakery next to the shopfront.

James' bread is made with house milled flour Credit: SBS / Sandra Fulloon

Bread making is a recent pivot for the Yorkshireman, who was born into a family of scientists in 1974 in a small market town called Wetherby, around 20 kilometres from Leeds.

Rather than follow their footsteps young James turned to advertising graduating from Leeds University in Business Marketing before moving on to big agencies.

And that led him to Australia in 1999, working for a global organisation for three years before starting his own company.

However, a health scare in 2012 put an end to his marketing career. Aged 37, James’ specialist diagnosed a huge aneurism coming off the aortic arch.

“And I was under the knife quickly,” he says. “Without a doubt that changed my life forever.”

Despite successful surgery to replace the aortic valve, arch and part of the coronary artery as well, a period of depression and anxiety followed.

James Partington after heart surgery Credit: Supplied: James Partington

“I struggled to leave the house fearing if I went far and had an episode I would need to go to hospital”, he says.

“It took me a long time to get back to work and when I did, pardon the pun, my heart was not in it.”

Surgery had also impacted his chest, and his specialist’s advice was to strengthen his muscles using a kneading exercise.

“So I took him literally and started making bread,” James says with a characteristic smile.

He started out making loaves in a wood fired oven in his garage, pedalling his bicycle along Sydney’s famous Manly beach to deliver the artisan loaves to customers.

James began making bread in recovery Credit: Supplied: James Partington

“Making bread at first was not comfortable,” he recalls. “It was all a bit crunchy [in my chest] and not at all pleasant but it was rewarding. And it gave me a new sense of purpose.”

His first shopfront in Seaforth followed in 2018, and before long Staple had grown to three outlets on Sydney’s northern beaches.

His bread has even taken out top prize in the Royal Agricultural Society competition in Sydney in 2018.

"We won not just the gold but the champion loaf, which is the  overall winner of the category which is amazing and just blew me away," he says proudly.

James is also proud to use traditional techniques in all his products.

Sourdough loaves ready for baking Credit: SBS / Sandra Fulloon

“Sourdough is a natural leaven, that’s been used for thousands of years. In its simple form it is a concoction of flour, water, bacteria and a natural yeast that makes bread rise,” he says.

A 750-kilogram imported stone mill grinds constantly at the shop, turning organic wheat into flour while leaving parts of the grain that improve flavour and nutrition, elements often lost during commercial milling.

“Knowing that it’s better for you and selling a healthier product to our customers is really important to me,” James says.

James has a diverse team at Staple Credit: SBS / Sandra Fulloon

Baker Vanesa Kovacova agrees.

“I love to work here,” the 29-year-old from Slovakia says.

“We work with organic ingredients and small local farmers, and I used to work with farmers in my own country so I love what James is doing here.”

James Partington recently made a discovery that sheds new light on his family heritage.

James' family bakery in the UK Credit: Supplied: James Partington

“I found out last year that my great, great-grandfather owned a bakery outside Gloucestershire, from the late 1800’s until 1910.

“It was amazing to find that out, like a connection with the past, and I felt like maybe this was my calling all along.

“The techniques we use today are just the same,” he says.

“And I think he would be very proud of Staple. It is a small community bakery with no factory, and he would appreciate that.”