THE MORNING BUN
If I'm craving something sweet to go with my morning Double Cappuccino, I usually reach for our Morning Bun. Crafted from our intricately laminated croissant dough, our Dojo team adds a layer of organic sugar, cinnamon and freshly grated zest from heirloom oranges. As it's coming out of the ovens, our Bake team dusts it with a little more organic sugar which gives it not only a little extra sweetness but enhances the crunch factor.
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Our croissant dough takes 3 days to make....on day 1 our Dojo team creates the poolish, which is a mixture of warm organic milk, fresh yeast and organic flour. The poolish is a pre-ferment or starter for our croissant dough. It's left to rise then fall before it's used as the foundation for our croissant dough. As the yeast does it's thing, the sticky poolish becomes super light and airy.
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On day 2, the poolish forms the base of what will become our croissant dough, which takes on a completely different texture - croissant dough is dense and silky at the same time and has a beautifully sweet milky scent.
Sticky, Bubbly Poolish Silky Croissant Dough Zested Oranges
Over the course of the 2nd and 3rd day, our Dojo team layers a kilo of Beurre D'Isigny with the croissant dough. There are 3 separate stages of lamination where the butter is enveloped by the croissant dough, rolled thin, folded and rolled thin, over and over again (with rest breaks for the dough to relax in between each stage) to create layers of butter that end up being less than 1mm thick. 😳
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The final laminated croissant dough then gets a ooey, gooey layer of organic dark brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest before being rolled, proofed, then baked on day 4.
Before the Oven. Getting a Dusting Of Sugar Good Morning!
Pre-orders are open now! We're open and baking hot from the oven every Tuesday - Sunday, from 7a-2p.
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See ya at the bakeshop!
MOVING MOUNTAINS
It has been an incredibly special week here at IZOLA as we celebrate the accomplishments of two absolutely inspiring women that we're honored to call IZOLA team members.
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(Both team members featured here have given us permission to share their stories in hopes of inspiring others.)Â
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CELEBRATING JENNIFERÂ
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Last week, Jennifer, a star member of our Front of House team, was able to move out of a local San Diego homeless shelter and into her new home. Many, many months in the making, Jennifer has worked so hard to create this new reality for herself. She is one of the hardest working people we know - I think the only time we've seen her stand still is for a photo, but then as soon as that camera clicks, she's off to her next task. She shows up every day with her whole heart, is so passionate about serving the IZOLA community with kindness and compassion, and being there for her teammates.
Today, we ask you to share in our celebration of Jennifer and join us in helping outfit Jennifer's new apartment!
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Jennifer will need all the basics...she is so darn humble that when we initially worked with her to create a wishlist, she placed just a handful of items on it. It took a few revisions for us to build a list of the basics she'll need. And I think we can get every item on this wishlist bought and sent to her - ready to prove me right?! LET'S GO!
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Here's her wishlist. We are deeply grateful to you, the IZOLA community, for helping us congratulate and celebrate Jennifer on this tremendous accomplishment.
PS - Jennifer was introduced to IZOLA through our partnership with Kitchens for Good. We all thrive with a strong support system, and it truly takes a village...please support their absolutely life-changing work!
CELEBRATING ADRIAN
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In addition to celebrating Jennifer's big milestone, we're also celebrating Adrian, one of IZOLA's new Front of House Leads.
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Adrian joined IZOLA a mere two months after her release from county jail. While incarcerated, she decided to forge a new path for herself. She built relationships with advisors and mentors and wrote letter after letter, reaching out to local support services to prepare for her release. She often thanks us for the opportunity we gave her here at IZOLA, but she has earned every opportunity.Â
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Last night, Jenny and I attended a fundraiser for Mary's Guest House, an organization that provides support and refuge for survivors of human trafficking. As a survivor herself, Mary's Guest House has been instrumental in providing Adrian with support and housing. Adrian was invited to be a guest speaker to share her story and celebrate her accomplishments. She has faced tremendous loss, experienced decades of abuse, overcome addiction, and today serves as an outspoken advocate.
We were honored to meet the network of people that Adrian has built around her - from her detentions chaplain to the founders of the 12-step organization Life with Purpose, to the counselors at the sheriff's department re-entry works program, the nuns from Mary's Guest House (that's Sister Christina below!) and her counselor from the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition.
Adrian, we are inspired by your perseverance, your compassion for others, and your dedication to making this world a better place. We are so honored that you have chosen to be a member of the IZOLA team.
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If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, here are some resources that Adrian has shared with us. If you have any questions, please email Jenny and she will be happy to work with Adrian to help provide answers or resources to questions you might have.
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Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition: There is a group that meets every Wednesday.
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Family Health Centers of San Diego: They offer free behavioral counseling.
As the season changes from summer to fall, our team was hit with a few illnesses this week. So it was a week of pivoting, teamwork and just tremendous gratitude for our team.
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A special shout-out this week to our Dojo team, who has been under more pressure because we are open on Sundays now. They've been working hard to create the hot-from-the-oven croissants we get to enjoy each weekend, but this was an especially tough week with team members out sick on top of the big production numbers. Thank you to each and every Dojo team member, Chefs Lidia and Ray, and all of the team members who have helped this week - from Victor coming in on his day off to Krystal jumping into the Dojo to assist Chef Lidia. Jenny and I also got to roll some croissants too this week! Standing beside her rolling croissants holds a special place in my heart, as it reminds me of the first months of IZOLA when it was just the two of us, spending our days rolling as fast as we could all weekend long to prepare for the upcoming week. We're definitely VERY rusty, not sure Chef Lidia would hire us to join her team today. 🤣
IZOLA FUTURE:
THIS THURSDAY!
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Join me and Jenny this Thursday October 3rd, at 4:30p PST for a Google Meet Investor discussion on IZOLA's future and why we're raising funds to support these five areas of justice:
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ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
GENDERLGBTQIA+
RACIAL
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Plus guest experience!
It's a fun conversation, super informal...we'll touch on where we're at now, our plans for the future, and how you can take part.
FROM CHINA TO SWITZERLAND...
Our newest sourdough flavor drop is the Lao Gan Ma Gruyère Sourdough and it takes us on a taste journey from Southwestern China to the hills of Switzerland...
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What is Lao Gan Ma?! It is a Chinese chili crisp that we stock en masse at home - we put it on everything from our eggs to our pizza to our sourdough, on sandwiches, on rice, on chicken...I think you get the gist...
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 We've paired swirls of spicy Lao Gan Ma with the slightly nutty, warm Swiss Gruyère AOP in our newest sourdough. Amazing on its own, or top it with a fried egg, or as the foundation for an epic sandwich. And as you can see in the image below, we're serious about flavor in every bite and accuracy.
OCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
On a recent bluebird San Diego day, we visited the inspiring team at the Ocean Discovery Institute in City Heights. Located just a few hundred feet from where the new IZOLA Main will be, we were excited to meet our neighbors and learn more about how they're making a long-lasting impact on City Heights and how we can support their efforts.
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Their mission? To inspire the next generation of science leaders, break generational poverty, and change the future of science. They do this through their 100% tuition-free model, providing in-school science programs, after-school and summer programming, and much more.
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If you'd like to help propel ODI's mission, you can join their community of donors (just a few pictured below) by donating here.
IZOLA FUTURE:
ARRIVES TOMORROW!
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Join me and Jenny tomorrow, Monday, September 23rd, at 6:30p PST for a Google Meet discussion on IZOLA's future and why we're raising funds to support these five areas of justice:
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ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
GENDER
LGBTQIA+
RACIAL
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Plus guest experience!
It's a fun conversation, super informal...we'll touch on where we're at now, our plans for the future, and how you can take part.
LUNCH AT IZOLAÂ
We're super stoked over the response to our new flavor drops - the Lao Gan Ma Gruyere Sourdough and Bibimbap Croissant (and it's vegetarian counterpart the Vbap!).
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Our Bibimbap Croissant has become the team's favorite for lunch. It's filled with bulgogi beef, carrots, daikon, kimchi, house made bibimbap sauce...served with beautiful microgreens, cucumber salad and more bibimbap sauce for dipping. We also have the VBap Croissant, the veg version, and interestingly enough, may actually win out as my favorite. Coming from a carnivore like me, that surprised me!
NOW OPEN SUNDAYS!
Wow.....did the IZOLA community come out in full force to celebrate our first Sunday open here at Island Avenue! We are sooooooooo happy to be back open for the full weekend and officially come out of our soft opening stage. (Though our sign still says "coming soon," don't let that fool ya! Our fingers are crossed that our permanent sign finally gets released from customs jail this week. 🤞)
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The entire team did such a phenomenal job this Sunday:
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Our Dojo team increased production and launched a brand new (and complex) croissant flavor all in the same week.
Our small but mighty Sourdough team kicked off their first Saturday production shifts while also launching a new flavor.
Our front-of-house team killed it both Saturday and Sunday! They served over 600 people each day, over 1500 croissants and sourdough loaves, and our Dishes team washed over 100 sheet pans plus hundreds of plates and cutting boards.
Our Bake team baked croissants and sourdough hot from the oven all weekend long, clocking in at over 25 oven loads of croissants and 17 loads of sourdough each day. 😳
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And here's a mind-blowing fact — our production team (Sourdough, Croissant, Bake) took 628 flights of stairs just to support Saturday and Sunday service days alone! For every tray of croissants we roll or every load of sourdough we bake, a team member brings a full sheet pan of them up the stairs, then down the stairs to bring the next load up.
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Thank you, team, and thank you to our IZOLA community for coming to see us. We look forward to seeing you this weekend!
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PRO TIP: Looking for a more chill experience? Come see us Tuesdays through Fridays - shorter lines (if any!), full menu available!
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NEW EXTENDED HOURS
Tuesday - Sunday 7a-2p
(ABOVE) The team stages out all pre-orders for Saturday on Friday afternoon, but by Saturday morning here are all the new orders to stage!
(ABOVE) The team celebrating an EMPTY orders screen! WOOT WOOT! Power team! (Not pictured as she's behind the camera: The amazing Andy, our Expeditor!)
THE GLAMOUR OF RUNNING A BAKERY 😉
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We've received such great feedback on the Reels we've been posting showing behind the scenes footage (like this and this), we thought we'd share some deets on what we've been up to this week:
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First up: It has to happen - grease trap and lift pump maintenance. In the wee hours of the morning we sheathed 60 feet of hose, then guided it down to the basement. (Warning: Noisy video, a little gross)
Oven repairs: My tip for business owners - have a backup in place and always carry spare parts! We spent a little time this week installing replacement parts on one of our croissant ovens, and cleaned the top of the ovens while we were at it, because why not?? (Can anyone spot Jenny?)
Surprise Inspection: The DEH visited us yesterday for an inspection! All went great and we appreciate the County for educating us and keeping us all safe. There's a lot that I appreciate about our team, and today was another day where the pride in their work showed...
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And the team took part in their regular maintenance, like power washing the sidewalks, picking up trash surrounding the bakery, putting touch ups on the paint around the bakeshop and much much more...
IZOLA FUTURE:
Join me and Jenny this Monday September 23rd at 6:30p PSTÂ on Google Meet for a discussion on IZOLA's future and why we're raising funds to support these five areas of justice:
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ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
GENDERLGBTQIA+
RACIAL
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It's a fun conversation, super informal...we'll touch on where we're at now, our plans for the future, and how you can take part.
LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Every Saturday we welcome local musicians to come and perform at IZOLA from 8a-1p. Here's a sneak peak at some of the artists dropping by this weekend.
KAHLIL NASH
8-9a
Emerging from the elite San Diego music scene in California, San Diego Music Award winner Kahlil Nash is a Funk/Rock and R&B recording artist/producer who is a multi-instrumentalist. Influenced by artists Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, and Prince, Kahlil Nash thrives to entertain his audience.
SHANTI
12-1p
Shanti brings the soul, love, and expression to every one of his performances. It is captivating and a dream to experience. A true time machine to the 60's meshed with new school style.