Danish for Fine Bread.
Oh, the joy of finding a first-class bakery without needing to search for a passport. Ole & Steen is a favourite.
One can wax lyrical about French bakeries but this Danish bakery, in my opinion, is a cut above. Ole & Steen have a remarkable collection of breads and rolls as well as filled breakfast croissants. Their sweet treats are tempting with cookies, brownies, fruit tarts and a cream puff for which to die. That item doesn’t seem to be featured on the online menu so I don’t know if it’s always available …but it should be.
But who are Ole & Steen? Third-generation baker Ole Kristoffersen opened a bakery in Denmark with his girlfriend Jane in a building known as “The Layer Cake House”. Steen Skallebaek opened his first bakery in Jutland in the west of Denmark in 1992. He was celebrated for Rugbrød and Rundstykker – the rye breads and small rolls for which Ole & Steen are known.
The first UK Ole & Steen bakery opened in December 2016 on Haymarket. Today more than 300 bakers work to support the Danish, London and New York bakeries. They produce classic Danish breads like the Skagen, Chia Rye and Sourdough loaves.
No waste
Ole & Steen breads are made by hand, every morning in a central West London bakery using traditional methods. They have a fascinating no-waste technique, too! At the end of the day, any unsold bread is returned to the bakery, grated and turned into bread ‘cream’. This helps to absorb more water in the next bread mix which makes for a smoother and softer texture.
All Ole & Steen breads are available sliced or whole. If a full loaf is too much, they offer halves at half the price! That is practical and allows single people or couples to enjoy these delicious goods with no fear of food waste. It also allows us to try a wider variety of bread. This is the must-visit bakery for entertaining a crowd, too. Your cheeseboard can tempt with a spread of delicious breads to suit every taste.
Rye bread is the loaf of choice here and there are a few different styles, but don’t miss out on the likes of Skagen Loaf Sourdough bread with a closed crumb, baked and made from wholegrain wheat and rye flour, covered in chia and sunflower seeds. It is named after Denmark’s northernmost town on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula. It’s ideal for open sandwiches. Christianshavner Loaf tastes as good as it looks. It has a crisp crust with a moist crumb, baked with wheat flour and seeds and topped with oats.
Ole & Steen is a baker’s bakery. Those of us who enjoy baking bread will still visit here often to buy bread which can only be made by professionals. All of us will appreciate the craftsmanship of their pastries, which remind us that one can still find quality artisanal bakers. Ole & Steen deserve to be popular with discerning food lovers.