8.5
Great
Restaurants

Jolene Colebrooke Row

We all need more Jolene in our lives.

Except for the guy in the song.

But when it comes to the rest of us, the cakes, pastries, and loaves coming out of the all-day bakery & restaurant over in Newington Green were simply too good to restrict to one neighbourhood.

Thankfully our pastry prayers were answered back in 2020 when owners Jeremie Conetto and David Gingell (of Primeur and Westerns Laundry fame) wisely chose to expand their empire of excellent bakeries across London – a master plan built around an appropriately-named bakery, Big Jo, which supplies fresh bakes with flour milled on-site to a slew of smaller ‘satellite bakeries’ around town including Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, Hackney’s Well Street, and here on Colebrooke Row. The focus being on eco-friendly baking practices (where they’ve adopted a regenerative farming approach) and loads of carby goodness, of course.

jolene colebrooke row

As a ‘satellite’, the Colebrooke Row location isn’t large like the original Jolene, which turns into a restaurant and bar by night, earning itself a rep as a tidy candle-lit date spot. Here, the mood is grab a coffee, a pastry (or four), and go. Or stay, if you can – there’s a handful of seats where one can sit to enjoy their millefeuille custard slices. For romance, Tony Conigliaro’s cocktail den ‘The Bar With No Name‘ is next door.

As for what’s on show, expect a rotation of cakes and tarts donning the display (lamingtons, carrot, Basque cheesecake, custard, pear, you name it); golden loaves and sourdough lining the shelves, which welcome you in from the street; and depending on time of year, special guest appearances from seasonal faves like pumpkin and mince pies. Putting the sugar to one side for a second, there’s a selection of amazing sandwiches too – healthy sandwiches – like a veggie number packing hummus, red pepper and rocket between house-made focaccia.

Not that your sweet tooth hasn’t been tickled already, but this is also the first Jolene to sling chocolate – an Islington exclusive. The treats come in flavours like milk chocolate praline or matcha white chocolate, and are usually sold in boxes of six.

You’ll want half a dozen of one, and six of the other.

 

NOTE: Jolene Colebrooke Row is open all week. You can check out their instagram HERE.

Jolene Colebrooke Row | 16 Essex Road, London N1 8LN


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Jolene Colebrooke Row


16 Essex Road, Islington, N1 8LN

8.5 | Great