On Opposite Sides of London, Two Community Bakeries Build for the Future

Two community-focussed bakery businesses at opposite ends of London will start 2022 by building on an existing cafe / deli and a pandemic pop-up project respectively. With Milk, a run by Hana and Lela Mamma, will open a new bakery and cafe on the corner of Philip Lane and Mount Pleasant in Tottenham, while Frog Bakery, run by Rebecca Spaven and Oliver Costello, has secured a site on Peckham Road, in Camberwell.

With Milk’s new space will combine the cafe and new bakery space with the halal deli that started its life in 2019, also on Philip Lane. The two sisters raised £35,000 through crowdfunding to secure the bakery element of the new space, whose additional size will see the expansion of both the current food menu and the deli itself, allowing them to introduce pickles, ferments and other products they have prepared themselves, complementing a network of local suppliers like Wilde’s Cheese, Todays Bread, &Poca, and Bee17.

Frog is also crowdfunding, seeking £10,000 for a cargo bike, to allow local deliveries; the pastry sheeter that is essential for anyone planning to make croissants at scale; and costs on renovating the shop they have taken over, which has been empty for a decade. Spaven and Costello started the brand with a pop-up at Loughborough Junction’s Platform Cafe in summer 2021, and have quickly won a following for the likes of cinnamon malt twists; a Bramley apple meringue pie; and a broad spectrum of dishes best summed up as “double carb pies.” Spaven has worked at the likes of Bread By Bike, Brick House, and Fortitude, while Costello is an Ottolenghi chef.

Frog is set to open in March 2022, while With Milk is still in its early design stages. More soon.