The best bakeries in London

The baking at Chatsworth Bakehouse in Crystal Palace is as extraordinary as its backstory – a couple, including a chef forced to close to his restaurant pop-up, start a community micro-bakery from their flat during lockdown, which turns into a runaway success and an eventual bricks and mortar location. Online pre-orders for bread and sandwiches sell out in minutes on a Monday, but head there on a Saturday and you may be lucky enough to walk away with a loaf and a slice of outrageously good Roman-style pizza. 

_{Photo by Indira Birnie}

Sister to much loved North London restaurants Primeur and Westerns Laundry, Jolene in Newington Green maintains their quality. Operating as a bakery and restaurant, you may find yourself popping in for a coffee and a pastry in the morning, but being enticed back for lunch for a crowd-pleasing terrine or bowl of pasta from the blackboard.

Lily Jones is a cake maker extraordinaire and has been described as the 'Queen of baked goods'. As well as making dream cakes to order, Jones has a small bakery just off Columbia Road where you can get a taste of her talents, in the form of seasonal cakes and pastries, including a show-stopping brownie.

Pophams’ two sites in Islington and Hackney have a nice balance of sweet and savoury when it comes to their pastry creations, from the expected pains au chocolat and almond croissants, to rosemary and sea salt twists and an excellent (if you’re a fan) Marmite, Schlossberger and spring onion swirl. Their bread is top-notch too. 

_{Photo by Adrianna Giakoumis}

Dalston’s The Dusty Knuckle (there’s a second branch in Haringey) is famous for long-fermented bread, particularly its potato sourdough which is close to taking on legendary status. It also exists as a social enterprise, helping to train young offenders, while simultaneously supplying some of London’s best restaurants.

_{Photo courtesy of The Dusty Knuckle}