our story
Fifteen years of very early mornings.
We started with one oven at a Saturday market. Today we bake for a whole neighbourhood, still by hand, still before sunrise.
From a market stall to Mercer Lane.
In 2011, Nora and Ben Halloran borrowed a deck oven, bought far too much butter and sold croissants out of a tent at the Saturday market. They sold out by nine.
Three years later they found a former laundromat on Mercer Lane with a floor strong enough for a real oven. The neighbours watched through the windows as the first loaves came out.
Today there are fourteen of us. We still shape every croissant by hand, still feed the same sourdough starter, and still sell out most days. We think that’s a good sign.
We bake the things we want to eat at seven in the morning. That’s the whole plan.
Nora Halloran, co-founder
A short history, in butter.
2011
A tent, a borrowed oven and 200 croissants at the Saturday market.
2014
We open on Mercer Lane in a former laundromat.
2019
A second oven, a coffee bar and a lot more seats.
2026
Fourteen bakers, 1,200 croissants a week and one very old starter.
Three things we won’t change.
Real butter, always
Cultured butter from a dairy two hours away. No margarine, no shortcuts, no exceptions.
Slow is the secret
Our doughs rest for up to three days. Time does more for flavour than any ingredient.
Nothing goes to waste
Whatever is left at closing goes to the Mercer Street shelter the same evening.
The people with flour on their aprons.
Ada Okafor
Head baker
Marco Bellini
Pastry chef
June Park
Coffee & front of house