London: Fabrique Bakery

Without a map or a working phone, it took us a while to find Fabrique Bakery, nestled as it is under Arch 385 of the Overground on Geffrye Street in Shoreditch (East London). But it was well worth the search as we found out to our ravenous delight when we sat down for a bite.

Cheese and fig jam sandwich on walnut bread

The bakers were finishing up in the lab. When they were done, Jens came and talked to us before settling down at his laptop to relax a while.

Jens trained as a pastry chef in his native Germany. He explains that Fabrique is a Swedish bakery, hence the gorgeous cardamom and cinnamon rolls and the aromatic cranberry-pumpkin seed rye.

Fabrique has eleven locations in Stockholm. The Shoreditch one is their first in London. Several more are planned to open within the next five years. Jens' eyes shine with excitement. This is his first job as a bread baker and he clearly loves it. The breads are leavened with liquid levain. A hint of commercial yeast is added for a better lift. The best seller is the levain.

Most of the breads are humongous. You can buy the whole loaf, half the loaf or a third of it. Charmed to see work and coffee listed as ingredients, I buy one third of the 100% rye. It will keep well and make for a fine breakfast for our remaining few days in London.

Then, thanking Jens for his welcome, we cast one last look around...

  

...and fully revigorated, set out for our next bread encounter.