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If you thought the capital’s hype-bake phase was petering out, think again, because celebrated pastry chef Anna Higham is unveiling her debut bakery Quince in Highbury later this month.
Once a trainee architect, 35 year-old Higham dropped out of art school at 22 to study a HNC in Pastry with the aim of opening her own bakery. Needless to say, she got distracted. ‘I thought I’d go and work in restaurants for a bit to gain some quick knowledge, but I got enamoured with them for quite a long time.’
These days, Higham is famed in culinary circles worldwide for channeling her energy into creating wondrous, creative bakes for Lyle’s, Flor and The River Café, as well as her critically acclaimed 2022 cookbook, The Last Bite. Nevertheless, the urge to open her own creative outlet returned some time ago. ‘It was when I left Lyle’s and Flor that I really started thinking about my own bakery — around 2020. But then the opportunity at the The River Cafe came along, which was something I couldn’t really turn down, so it was really when I left the River Cafe in 2022 that I decided I would. It had been a long time coming.’
Now, after more than a year of ‘psyching’ herself up, the moment has arrived. Launching in late February, Quince takes its name from the golden fruit, which Higham has long been fascinated by. ‘It had to be named after something fruit based, as so much of what I have done professionally is centred around fruit,’ she says. ‘I remember reading about Quince when but nobody seemed to have them, then I moved to London and I found them in a little Portuguese shop in Brixton and I came home with all of these quinces which I just thought were so delicious. I lived with my sister and a friend at the time and there was this joke that they’d come home and find me just sniffing quince.’
For Higham, there’s more to the fruit than meets the nose, however. ‘Quince are very British, which I really love. They’re kind of old fashioned and unusual, and those are things I want to explore through the bakery. Plus, I think they’re a very overtly feminine fruit, too. So that all tied in nicely to create something that felt right.’
The take-away spot, which she hopes will ‘provide a holistic experience, not just one that satisfies the senses but also nurtures the body, heart and spirit’, will be an ode to British baking. ‘There is a huge amount of baking tradition in the UK, but there’s a lot of scope to explore and play around with. A lot of the bakeries as them boom has happened have been very influenced by Europe, by France, and all the exciting things that are happening in Copenhagen and America, so I think there’s real space to take all of that learning and apply it to our baking traditions.’
On the menu, there’s won’t be a crumb of viennoiserie in sight (‘there’s a lot of people doing that really well’). Instead, Higham is ‘excited to make things like tatty scones, Staffordshire oatcakes and soda bread, as well as a lot of quick griddle cakes — there’s a lot of creative space to do a bit more of that.’
Moreover, hungry visitors will find an array of changing pies and buns depending on the fruits of the season, while her signature brown butter bun and a range of bread will be non-negotiable stalwarts. ‘I want the bread to be something that’s really central to what we do, what defines Quince Bakery.’ says Higham, who is keen to woo the locals. ‘I want it to be that neighbourhood bakery where people are not just travelling across London, but it’s a bakery where people who live two or three streets away come two or three times a week to buy their bread, a bun and a nice coffee at the same time.’
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The breads on offer will include a sourdough county style loaf, a sandwich loaf, baguettes, wholegrain sold by the half or the quarter, and danish style rye breads, plus Guinness soda loaves baked mid-morning, ‘so there’ll be warm bread available all day.’
To drink, All Press and regularly changing filter coffee by guest roasters will be available as well as wine to be lugged home in stylish branded tote bags. Plus, come evening the space will regularly be transformed to host supper clubs, book events and workshops around a kitchen table. The first one? The one and only Diana Henry hosting Quince’s Crowdfunders. Now if that’s not a taste of what’s to come, I don’t know what is...
Quince will be open Wednesday to Saturday later this February.
267 New North Road, London N1.