Sodalicious is Ireland’s first dedicated soda bread only bakery.
Based in the heart of Limerick City, the unique bakery combines delicious bakes with great coffee.
Owner Jane Conlon said Sodalicious was born out of her passion for baking and in particular baking soda bread.
“After completing the certificate course in Ballymaloe I went to London in 1995. There I worked in one of Anthony Worrall Thomson’s restaurants. It was a busy kitchen with up to 12 chefs working at any one time. It was here that I gained invaluable experience learning from a very talented Italian pastry chef. We started work every morning at 5am – it was all yeast bread we made. Each morning was spent mixing dough, knocking it back and proving, all done by hand. Finally we would add a variety of flavours – nuts, seeds, sun dried tomatoes, to name but a few. My eyes were opened, my senses awakened – I loved every minute of my apprenticeship,” explained Jane.
On her return to Ireland Jane managed a busy restaurant in Co. Leitrim and due to time restrictions and a tiny kitchen yeast breads were not an option.
“I applied all I learned in London to the beautiful soda bread I had made so often in Ballymaloe. The result was a revelation. This bread tasted better than its yeast equivalent and yet so much quicker to produce. Over the years I perfected the recipe and flavours which has now become the Sodalicious formula,” said Jane.
Only in business since August 2018, the reaction to Sodalicious has been positive and very encouraging.
“We all love a good Asian take away, Italian pasta and pizza, French haute cuisine, Indian, Mexican and so on. But let’s not forget what Ireland has to offer the gastronomic world stage. In my opinion, a well-made soda bread paired with some of our own Irish deli meats, farmhouse cheese, with pickles, chutneys and jam, or, simply with a great bowl of soup, is hard to beat.”
Sodalicious is also for the health conscious, as Jane explains: “Our bread is completely natural with a very low fat content so it is a thoroughly healthy carbohydrate. Because it is yeast free customers continually comment on how light they feel after dining with us.”
If you tried only one thing on the menu, Jane recommends “Our rasher sandwich on toasted cheddar and chive bread with a mug of tea – comfort food at its best!”
Sodalicious is located on Henry Street, nearby the new Gardens International site. “When the Gardens International Site is completed beside us it can only be good for Sodalicious. We have already built up a steady repeat customer base so with many hundreds of new jobs located so close by we expect this to increase. We deliver lunches to several offices in our vicinity. We hope to build on this service and roll out a full outdoor catering branch in 2019. We feel our location is well suited for both collections and delivery,” explained Jane.
Jane continued, “Limerick’s food scene is very exciting right now. There is an ever growing choice of eateries but still plenty of opportunity. Limerick people deserve top quality restaurants and cafes and in my experience they are open to moving out of their comfort zone in terms of eating. It’s really encouraging to see more and more healthy food destinations opening up – Asian street food, salad bars, food halls and even soda bread bakeries!”
“Our surroundings are very conducive to relaxing with a playlist of carefully selected Irish music artists playing in the background. It is a modern way of eating and Irish to its core,” added Jane.
Jane worked closely with the food development team in Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) to develop the Sodalicious product and concept. Jane explained: “LIT lecturer Agnes Boucher-Hayes has been a brilliant support and source of positivity especially when things didn’t go exactly to plan. She always comes up with a solution or way round. Agnes and Tracey Larkin kick started my idea and helped drive it to where we are today. I am very grateful for all their help and encouragement and hope to continue working with them into the future bringing Sodalicious to new heights.”
Find out more about Sodalicious here.