Born and bread: a former London post office finds a new lease of life as a bakery

Margot Bakery – an oasis of sourdough bread and pastries – has landed in a sleepy part of north London where an old Post Office once stood. Set up by baker Michelle Eshkeri and designed by her husband’s childhood classmate, architect Lucy Tauber, the space is open-plan, a stipulation of Eshkeri’s, who wanted the baker, kitchen staff and barista to be in easy communication with their customers.

Together, client and architect have created a bright, airy bakery with white block work, black steel, ribbed glass, Muuto lamps, handmade patterned tiling on the floor and old science tables fashioned from reclaimed teak for the customers. Here, it’s hard not to linger over your bread and pastry purchases, grab a cup of the finest coffee with a croissant or sit down for a slice of gluten, dairy and wheat free cake.

Baking excellent bread is what Eshkeri loves. It takes her and her small team three to four days to create their loaves – watching, shaping, tweaking and handling the sourdough, and often decorating with edible flowers and herbs. ’Sourdough is always a work in progress,’ she says.

Eshkeri’s insistence on the very best quality ingredients makes for a small but perfectly formed – and frequently changing – menu of breads, pastries, sandwiches and salads. Gourmands are flocking from across London (and beyond) for decadent Valrhona chocolate or tahini and brown sugar babkas, and the weekend brunch menu is luring people from their lie-ins with dishes such as latkes with smoked cheddar and a beetroot, onion and date jam.