Birley Bakery

It was founded by Robin Birley, the man behind the private members club 5 Hertford Street, as well as celebrated pastry chef Vincent Zanardi. The stylish interior, with walls covered in crimson paper and decorated in gilded Japonisme designs, makes it a gorgeous place to visit.

It takes its inspiration from the traditional boulangerie-pâtisseries which though, at one time, ubiquitous in every city, town and village of France.

Their recipes, some of which have taken as long as five years to be brought to perfection, are a more contemporary twist on the classics once found in those much missed boulangerie-pâtisseries. All the bread and cakes at the bakery are made from exceptional ingredients, these sourced from around the globe: the wheat flour comes from an artisanal farmer in Burgundy, the sea salt from La Guérande in Brittany, the plump almonds from Valencia, and the thick dark honey from hives in Bermondsey. A special reserve of bitter chocolate, created specifically for Birley, and mixed with cacao beans from the Philippines, forms the basis of our range of chocolates.