Betsy is a bakery at 221 The Parade in Island Bay, a seaside suburb south of central Wellington, holding a 4.6 rating on Google.
A good neighbourhood bakery lives by the rhythm of the oven: the first loaves and pastries come out in the morning, the popular lines often sell out well before closing, and what is left late in the day tells you what the regulars already know. The dependable signs of quality are practical ones: a crust that crackles when torn, an open and uneven crumb in a sourdough, pastry that shatters rather than bends. It always pays to ask what came out of the oven that morning, since a confident baker would rather point you to the fresh tray than to whatever is sitting on the shelf.
Sitting on The Parade a short walk from the sea, Betsy is well placed for Island Bay locals drifting home from the beach.