TD 1
Trends come and go. A decade ago there was coffee
, hookah, and raw coconuts, skinned of their furry bark and sporting an environmentally friendly straw. More recently, Boba and Mochi had a heyday. Avocados have always been expensive but there was a weird time there that people didn’t care. Good bread though, it’s a little like jazz. It may enjoy a moment in the sun, and alongside it, good bread will gather lifelong devotees. For many, the revelation comes when they find themselves living near a bakery, and with Elliots in Phibsborough, this lucky mud has been truly spoiled. My local breadfolk have now decided to expand their operations, opening an additional new venture closer to the city. Elliots has seen near universal acclaim from customers and tastemakers like Lovindublin as well as close to perfect scores on sites like Gastro Ranking since opening their doors in 2022. They have quickly won over their neighbours with an always interesting, ever changing selection of innovative cakes, head turning pastries and freshly baked bread, often opening until they sell out, which is a near certainty with their avid customer base. An exciting addition to the beloved Oxmantown stable founded by Conor Higgins and Aime Costello eleven years ago. Named for one of their children, the bakery has served its iconic Jamon Buerres and Reuben sandwiches alongside some truly exceptional sweet treats for the past two years, and this month has opened a new location in Arran Street East. Owing in no small part to serendipity, the former manufacturing arm of the eponymous luxury ceramics company (Arran Street East) has been transformed into a grand bakehouse along the street of the same name. They have swapped kilns for ovens, knitting for kneading, and developed a truly impressive new outlet for themselves. Rooms that once brought together powder clay, heat and water to make widely celebrated pottery, use water, flour and heat to make equally celebrated bread. The very impressive pressure profiling Slayer machine that adorns the coffee bar is evidence to everyone in the know that no expense has been spared in pulling their perfectly brewed shots of Cloud Picker coffee. And the buns. Oh the buns. From blood orange and lemon tarts, pistachio and rhubarb choux pastries to their apricot and elderflower galettes (they’re a bit like a Kouignamann, which is a bit like an idealised croissant), the fare looks to be as exceptional as the original premises, a stones throw away. Conor was good enough to give us some of his time as they opened to talk us through Elliots, and how they came to occupy a space with such a rich history. “They have swapped kilns for ovens, knitting for kneading, and developed a truly impressive new outlet for themselves.” 22