Lunch at Big Jo - finally. And, the best croissant in town.
Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith
If you follow me on Instagram you cannot fail to have noticed that I have a mild obsession with Big Jo, the bakery/coffee shop/restaurant that opened on Hornsey Road back in 2020 and made me reconsider selling up (not that I’d got the house on the market or anything, you understand, but I was swiftly coming to the conclusion that it was time I did). I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this place, nor why, in fact – it’s something quite essential, like, I walk in, and my emotions are stirred. I feel at once at home and calm, welcomed, and at the same time excited. And that’s before I’ve even sunk my teeth into what I call “the best croissant in London”. Actually, it IS the croissant. I’m quite fussy about croissants and I guess, over time and with fewer visits to France, my tastes have evolved to value most a super flaky, very buttery and very flavoursome, soft dough (definitely not bready) in the middle kinda croissant. And if that’s what you like, you won’t find better than here. Yes, that’s what hooked me first.
Big Jo is part of a growing group of restaurants and bakeries from chef and restaurateur David Gingell and Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim who have steadily been opening places across North London (Primeur, Western’s Laundry, Jolene, and now a crop of mini Jolenes with more on the way this year) and Cornwall (Fitzroy and North St. Kitchen) for almost a decade. Aside from cooking good honest, hyper seasonal food and presenting it in an environment that is welcoming and feels like home, though Cometto is a bit of a genius because with all that brushed steel (or, whatever metal it is) in their restaurants, they really should feel harsher*, they’re on a mission to bring the message of regenerative farming, and to support regenerative food systems and ethical farming, to as many people as possible. They’re not doing this by being didactic and preachy but by putting their money where their mouths are and using grains from Wildfarmed (they initially milled the grains themselves but I think Wildfarmed do it now) in their breads and pastries and buying their produce from farmers/producers who share their values around the role food production plays in regenerating the soil. I love that they say they’re not perfect because I believe that’s what we need, every person to start and make steps towards effecting a positive change on our impact on the planet (actually, my particular bug bear is about kindness, and tolerance, and accepting that people are usually doing their best and trying to learn).
Everything they do is sublime, their pastries are seriously the best (I know, I know, someone will have somewhere that they think challenges this… that’s okay, we’re all allowed our favourites). Their bread is superb, I favour the white and wholemeal mix, the drinks are top notch – coffees, of course, but they also serve kombuchas and homemade cordials and a great list of natural wines. With a huge pizza oven taking pride of place in the kitchen it’s no surprise that they also sell great pizza (apparently, I’ve not tried it – to be explained shortly) and an array of beautifully simple dishes of the absolute best ingredients for lunch and dinner. But, they do love a bit (a lot) of garlic and garlic does not love me so, the joy of eating more than a pastry or cake has eluded me until…
A few days before Christmas I met up with my gorgeous daughter for brunch – we had been meaning to try Café Cecilias which has been on my list since it opened but when we realised we would have to get there for breakfast at actual BREAKFAST time (!!!) we swiftly had a rethink. Alex hadn’t been to Big Jo yet (where HAS she been all her life!?) and so we went there.
We met at a perfectly respectable 10:45 for coffee and croissants, and pastries and… oh, Alex felt more like lunch and, as luck would have it they start serving lunch at 11am. So, she ordered a slice of pizza which, now I come to think of it, I can’t work out how they managed to cover in a cloud of finely grated parmesan – whenever I add grated parmesan to something hot the cheese just melts. I must ask them.
I thought I’d just check, having been previously told that they can’t accommodate my dietary requirements, whether they happened to have anything on that I could eat and… joy of joys, they did! They actually had loads. I had a burrata with chard, pickled raisins and pangratta – just… absolutely my kind of food, full of flavour and texture, deceptively simple and… pickled anything (not eggs) gets my mouth watering. Also, I’m a bit obsessed with chard so, this was a dream dish for me.
I think, but don’t quote me, that they always have burrata on the menu, along with a couple of pizzas and sandwiches layered with flavour and textures. There are always a few nibbly bits - think bread and butter, olives, pickles, and then a couple of more substantial ‘salads’ or stew-y/braised dishes. It’s all a delight. And from 11am they have a selection of cakes that make for gorgeous puds.
If you go to the loos, I recommend the one on the left, as you face them walking in. It has a little radio that crackles and seems to always be playing some sort of Latin vibes, there’s a candle and it feels like you’re in some little party cabana. Maybe that’s just me…
Anyway. Big Jo, I love you.
* - I guess it’s because he balances it with low lighting, lots of wood and beautiful ceramics that feel good underhand,
A detail from one of the napkins at Big Jo
Correction: I originally wrote that Big Jo opened in 2018 - absolutely no idea where that came from as I know full well they opened in 2020, making their success even more impressive I think.