These days I’m the worst person to ask for a list of “my top bakeries” because on some level I appreciate all labour and craft, and I struggle to be utterly damming or blindingly awed to place one well above another. So as a consequence I’m always happy (relieved?) to be shown someone else’s choice, and have learned about so many bakeries this way: @today_bread thanks to Rose Wilkinson for #foodunwrapped, @jolene_hackney thanks to @jameskhansen, @anna.atthetable thanks to @theybfs. Back in 2003 I started a list on my website (pictured) of great bakeries in Britain (if you go to archive.org and type in danlepard.com you can see the list from Dec 2003) really to highlight independent bakers at a time when they were mostly overlooked. But today Instagram is probably one of the best ways to discover new bakeries, and sites like @eaterlondon marvellous at listing so much typically overlooked in London.

So on Wednesday I went to #Filipino-inspired bakery @k_a_p_i_h_a_n in Battersea thanks to @msjessicamw. It was set up by Nigel Motley (pictured), who opened @k_a_p_i_h_a_n (Kapihan is Filipino for “coffeehouse”), with his brother David in August after a successful soas popup a couple of years ago. We ate a fantastic Filipino chorizo and blue cheese croissant topped with crushed pork crackling (Spain ruled philippines from 1565 until 1898, so there are many Spanish influences in ingredients and cooking). Then I had a green #pandan and coconut bun, complete up my street.
Next year they will move the baking into the Battersea bakery, with an open kitchen. The oak counter and serving area installation was built by Fred Dodson @tataraworkshop (who crafted the serving area for @pophamsbakery) using one kana blade on wood from one tree, giving the timber a Japanese #鉋 #kannafinish that results in beautifully soft curves using no sandpaper at all, utterly preserving the natural patterns in the grain.

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