Ori Hellerstein
THE ARTISAN BAKER

 Ori Hellerstein’s passion for food started from a young age. As a boy he would often be found helping out in his mother’s delicatessen in Israel. He remained loyal to the food industry and by his early 20s he was managing a successful restaurant in Jerusalem. However, it was whilst travelling in Central America that the culinary spark was ignited for him. This was the defining moment when he knew food was his life!

 His love affair with fine food saw him move to London where he graduated as a chef at the renowned French cookery school, Le Cordon Bleu. Highly skilled with extensive experience, Ori joined Galvin at Windows, a Michelin star restaurant in London, where he worked as a pastry chef specialising in breads, cakes and petit fours. 

After several years of working as a pastry chef in London, Ori settled in the Cotswolds, England, with his family. Here he set up a bakery school and started his first food business, selling breads and confectionery locally.  

Ori is known as The Artisan Baker in his hometown of Stroud - a name taken from the title of his book, where he shares the secrets behind his mouth-watering recipes inspired by his culinary travels across the world.

In September 2020 Ori opened his first store at the Five Valleys indoor Market in Stroud. Here, you can witness Ori and his team bake a huge range of fresh produce on site each morning in the open-plan kitchen.

Using ethically sourced and, wherever possible, local ingredients, the menu at the Five Valleys Artisan Baker consists of Ori’s distinctive products including The Nelson Loaf (a South African seed bread named after Nelson Mandela).

As well as creating award-winning, speciality produce; every-day loaves and butter and vegan pastries are also available daily.  

The latest chapter of Ori’s story brings him to Imperial Gardens, Cheltenham, where he opened his second store in October 2022 at the Quadrangle building facing the park. Visitors are able to enjoy the delicious range of organic baked goods that will be delivered fresh every morning from the Stroud bakery. Alongside the bread, pastries and cakes, coffee and hot drinks will also be available, as well as speciality sandwiches.