Sourdough temples in the city
E5 BAKEHOUSE
When Ben Mackinnon , a former environmental consultant, left his office job, a world of opportunity opened up to him. After a few months of travel and rest, he decided that when he returned to England he was going to sign up for classes to learn how to do sourdough bread . Ben started out in business selling his bread to friends and acquaintances and today, five years later, his is one of the most beloved bakeries in town.
Located in East London , under the arches of the train track, at E5 Bakehouse sustainability is the pillar of his business. There they grind the grain -always organic- in their own mill, they aspire to use local ingredients and most of their flour is grown in the United Kingdom, they organize events such as film festivals and collaborate with projects of a social nature such as the Ujima Bakehouse in Kenya. In addition to a bakery, at E5 Bakehouse they also have a coffee where you can try some of their delicious cakes, toast dishes or soups, and on Sundays they offer sourdough pizza. One of its most popular breads is Hackney Wild, made from a mixture of wheat and rye flour. They also have spelled, rye, multigrain, wholemeal, seed and nut breads.
395, Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3PH
E5 Bakehouse
OLD POST OFFICE BAKERY
Founded in the early 1980s, this south London bakery has pioneered the defense of organic ingredients and the traditional bread recipes . Faced with the impossibility of finding nutritious and artisanal bread like the bread with which he had grown up in southern Germany, Karl Heinz Rossbach , a German psychotherapy student, launched into founding this bakery. He was living in Brixton at the time, in a occupied building that had been an old post office, hence the name. This bakery has the great merit of have known how to distance themselves from the trends of industrial and fast bread of that time and to defend the opposite. The options offered today range from rye bread, with seeds or sunflower seeds, traditional baguettes and fruit bars to sweet options like brioche, croissants or cinnamon buns and savory ones like empanadas, sausage rolls, quiche or pizzas.
76 Landor Road, London SW9 9PH
'White Bloomer'
** MANUFACTURE **
This is one of the most popular bakeries in Stockholm and in London , where they already have four, they are going the same way. Founded by David and Charlotte Zetterstrom , a couple who met while they both worked in a bakery, Fabrique seeks to offer bread made from fresh and natural ingredients, following traditional Swedish recipes and baked in a stone oven. In addition to Nordic-style breads, especially rye, all their bakeries have several tables where you can sit down to enjoy their delicious cinnamon or cardamom buns, as well as the Johan & Nyström coffee . If you visit his bakery Hoxton , the first one that opened outside of Sweden, it is worth making a hole to stop by The Geffrye Museum . Located in front of the bakery, this museum is the house museum and there you can see furniture, textiles and objects from 1600 to today.
Arch 385, Geffrye St, London E2 8HZ
fabricate
BALTHAZAR BOULANGERIE
Located in Covent Garden , next to the homonymous restaurant, the British businessman Keith McNally brought to London in 2013 his successful concept from Manhattan , where he has been successful for years with his French-style brasserie. The decoration is very elegant, as if taken from another time and the colored mosaic floor adds charm to the interiors. Although the bakery is very small, it has a bar with stools to sit and watch life go by from the heart of one of the most emblematic squares of the city. All the bread they sell is made in their bakery located in Waterloo and they have walnut, raisin, spelled, rye and wheat bread. They also serve French-style sandwiches, cakes and pastries, such as croissants, as well as hot and cold drinks.
4-6 Russell St, London WC2B 5HZ
Balthazar Boulangerie
** THE BREAD STATION **
This new bakery in East London boasts that it has polished the art of Danish bread with recipes that have been perfected over ten years. Founded by Danish chef Christoffer Hruskova -who won a Michelin star at his London restaurant North Road for its characteristic Nordic cuisine using British ingredients- and the master baker Per Brun -which previously opened a Danish bakery in Berlin- in The Bread Station they grind all the grain in their stone mill and they let it ferment cold, at five degrees , prolonging the process to obtain more flavor. The house specialty is Danish-style bread made with wholemeal and organic flours . This bakery has space to sit down to enjoy some of the Danish and croissants, as well as coffee or tea.
Arch 373, Hemsley Place, London Fields, London E8 3SB
BreadStation
ST JOHN BAKERY
This bakery is only open on weekends as a market stall. Part of the renowned St John restaurant group , celebrated for popularizing the principles of "nose to tail" with the chef Fergus Henderson Heads up, his bread is some of the best in the capital. The secret of its formula may lie in the very slow fermentation – of up to forty hours – which produces a bread full of nuances and flavour. From the stand, full of bars and loaves of different flours -mainly wheat and rye- and its famous donuts -highly recommended- you can see in the background the bakers work since the bakery is there and it is there where they make the bread that they also serve in the group's restaurants. If you visit this bakery it is worth stopping by the Maltby Street Gourmet Market, just in the street behind. They also sell their bread to go in some of their restaurants.
72 Druid Street, London SE1 2HQ
St John Bakery
PAVILION
Founded by Australian Brett Redman and his partner, Rob Green , this bakery is strategically located in ** Broadway Market ,** a street that on Saturdays hosts one of the most interesting small markets in the city and that is also a good example of gentrification, where modern and alternative cafes and shops mix with the few stores that remain of those of a lifetime. The bakery is very small and apart from four or five chairs next to the window there is no room to sit. It's more of a place to go grab something on the go. In addition to the breads that you would expect from a bakery like this one, rye or wholemeal, they also have surprising options, such as beet bread, which is lilac in color, or pumpkin bread. Likewise, they have bagels, milk breads and sweet bites like Danish pastries or croissants . They have recently opened another store in the nearby Columbia Road , also in Hackney .
18 Broadway Market, London E8 4QJ, UK
pavilion
BRICK HOUSE
When you quit your job in the advertising world and moved to San Francisco to train in the San Francisco Baking Institute is that you have a great interest in the world of bread. That's what Fergus Jackson did with his wife, Sharmin, back in 2011. Back in London, they founded Brick House, a bakery-shop-cafe located in the southeast of the capital, in the idyllic neighborhood of East Dulwich. They specialize in San Francisco-style pastries, with breads made from sourdough and long fermentations . Each of their bars and loaves is made in a slow process that lasts two days.
The star of its production, all handmade and baked in a stone oven, is the Peckham Rye Loaf . With a dark crust and a light crumb, made from wheat and rye flour, it is delicious. Also, they have cereal, raisin and nut bread, baguettes and one denser bar of rye and wholemeal flour which includes molasses and flaxseed. It is worth going early because the bakery, located in an old electrical warehouse with high ceilings, naturally lit thanks to its windows, is one of those that invites you to spend some time there. Your coffee has the Square Mile quality guarantee and as a sweet snack, you should not leave without trying their morning buns.
1 Zenora St, East Dulwich, London SE22 8HP
Long-fermented breads made from sourdough
BREAD AHEAD
Located in Borough Market , this bakery that also houses a artisan bread school sell more than three thousand donuts a week and more than two hundred people attend his sourdough bread school weekly. Their flour is brought from the county of Essex and for their jams they always use British products. Their bread is delicious but surely more people recognize Bread Ahead for their donuts than anything else. Prepared by Justin Gellatly , former master pastry chef at St John's Bakery, his donuts fly and they even have classes to learn how to make these little delicacies once a month. But its supply of bread is not far behind, since rosemary focaccias to multigrain breads with fennel or the traditional baguettes It's easy to see why both their bread and donut courses are always packed.
Borough Market, Cathedral St, London SE1 9DE
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bread ahead