A LAKE District sourdough bakery is on the rise.

Lovingly Artisan, based at Plumgarths, Kendal, has just opened a new micro-bakery at Altrincham Market.

Called Bread & Fishes, baker Aidan Monks' latest venture is serving up hand-crafted, freshly baked rye and einkorn (one of the oldest grains) sourdough breads.

Customers can also try a selection of simple and tasty street-food fish dishes, to eat in or take away, alongside a glass of something chilled.

The "catch of the day menu" includes delicious meals such as mackerel with Kalamata olives and salted anchovies; hake with sweet chillies, garlic and parsley butter; and oven-roasted prawns - all served with Lovingly Artisan's scrumptious sourdough.

For vegetarians, oven-roasted sweet tomatoes and garlic bruschetta fits the bill.

Aidan, who owns the bakery business, explained: "Having grown a successful retail and wholesale bakery business from Plumgarths, we’ve been looking at options for a micro-bakery site to service our burgeoning Altrincham foodie tribe.

"When we set up the Lovingly Artisan unit at Altrincham Market back in 2017, we began to explore how a micro-bakery could work within the market with the mission to support our artisan bread store.

"We’ve created two additional jobs, which means we can increase our production and bring more of our hand-crafted artisan breads to our customers across the region.’"

Aidan added: "Not only that, our street-food menu makes use of fresh fish and seafood provided by local fishmonger Eddie, from Altrincham’s Catch of the Day, which - when served alongside our range of hand-crafted freshly baked breads - firmly complements the increasingly artisan producer-led foodie offer Altrincham is becoming renowned for.’’

Freshly loaves from the micro-bakery will be available for customers to buy from Lovingly Artisan’s stall, and Bread & Fishes will dishing up oven-baked seafood and shellfish dishes on the following market days;:Tuesday Club, Fresh Friday, Trad-Mod Saturday and Design, Food & Vintage Sunday.

Award-winning baker Aidan studied at the College of Culinary Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, and went on to be mentored by experts from Grands Moulins de Paris, the French bakery and patisserie school.

His signature loaves include:

- naturally leavened sourdough, a white loaf that takes 24 hours to prove and "will sit in the bread bin for days"

- mature Cheddar and chilli, a light rye sourdough described as perfect for beans on toast and a "weekend breakfast institution"

- five grain rye, a nutty blend of pumpkin, sunflower, millet, brown linseeds and golden linseeds, runner-up at the 2016 World Bread Awards

- and the classic French-style baguette, with an authentic crust, baked from speciality baguette flour milled in Paris, with an authentic crust.