Bread Ahead to open Soho cafe amid bakery sector boom
The 60-cover site on Beak Street will open on 5 January, serving breakfast and lunch dishes, as well as grab-and-go items, from 7am though to 7pm.
Breakfast options include the likes of Croque Monsieur; brioche French toast with jam, honey and icing sugar or bacon and syrup; scrambled eggs served on a demi-brioche bun with smoked salmon; toasted brown sourdough with mushrooms and a fried egg; and ‘build your own’ porridge menu, with toppings including cashew butter, roasted coconut flakes, quinoa, chia seeds and Manuka honey.
Bread Ahead’s signature sourdough loaves will be available, as will other firm favourites including the amaretti, kouign amann and doughnuts.
The lunch menu will comprise a selection of sandwiches served in a variety of the brand’s classic breads such as sourdough, ciabatta and brioche. There will also be two regularly rotating salads.
Deigned in collaboration with Lisa Helmanis, the interior of the café will be classical, featuring pink marble counters, high bentwood stools and brassy features.
Bread Ahead was founded by Matthew Jones in 2013, followed by the Bakery School in 2014. Jones opened a second Bakery and School in Chelsea last year, and held a winter residency in Mayfair in November.
The bakery brand is one of a number that is expanding across London and beyond as the market for artisan bread grows. Danish brand Ole Steen recently opened its fourth and fifth sites in London’s West End and Victoria respectively and is set to open further bakeries in Marylebone and High Street Kensington early next year.
Celebrity baker Paul Hollywood also recently entered the category with Knead, in Euston station, a partnership with travel concessions operator SSP.
