Islington residents are in for a treat this summer as a new bakery is arriving on New North Road serving residents homemade pastries and coffees.
Quince Bakery will sell intricate, artisan-made pastries, including wholegrain, handmade pies with alternating seasonal fruit fillings, wholegrain palmiers, and rustic baguettes. The bakery is the brainchild of founders, Anna Higham and Paris Barghchi.
Higham and Barghchi crossed paths whilst working in the hospitality industry. Barghchi was working with the team at Neal’s Yard Dairy wholesale team and Higham had the lofty position of Head of Pastry at Lyle’s, a modern European restaurant in Shoreditch.
The bakery has been an aspiration for Higham for a decade.
“I have wanted to open a bakery since I started cooking professionally around 13 years ago, I worked in cheesemongers, delis and wine shops in Glasgow and I loved the way that those businesses and I really knew the customers,” she said.
“I knew who liked which cheeses, who came every Saturday for freshly sliced bacon, which kid got their treat custard tart on a Wednesday after school,” she adds. “I really want to create that feeling at Quince. We want to be part of the fabric of the neighborhood.”
The two women have set up a crowd-funder to help with the grand opening of Quince. They are aiming to raise up to £40,000 having so far raised £5,945.
The money will be used for the refurbishment which will turn the building into a bakery and to buy the crucial equipment needed for a fully functioning kitchen such as work benches, fridges and bread shelves.
The feeling of neighbourhood and togetherness is a recurring theme championed by Higham and Barghchi. “We want to be in the neighbourhood for the long term and contribute to what makes Islington such a special borough to live in,” they said.
“With a menu that will be inspired by the ingredients we love, we know Quince will be a bakery with a commitment to joy, connection and to nourishment.”
