Ember & Grain
Sourdough bakery & café — Crystal Palace
What's Baking Today
Baked fresh this morning in Bertha, our wood-fired oven. First come, first served — when it's gone, it's gone.
Country Sourdough
Our signature loaf. 48-hour cold ferment using Heron Mill stoneground white, shaped by hand and baked in Bertha until the crust sings. Deep, complex flavour with a chewy, open crumb and that wood-fired smokiness you can't get any other way.
5.50
Almond Croissant
Maya's pride and joy. Three-day laminated dough made with high-fat Surrey butter, filled with house-made frangipane and topped with flaked almonds and a whisper of icing sugar. Shatteringly crisp outside, soft and custardy within.
4.25
The Seasonal Toastie
James's current creation: slow-roasted leek and gruyere with a wholegrain mustard bechamel on thick-cut sourdough. Pressed on the grill until golden and molten. Changes monthly, always worth the trip.
8.50
Cardamom Morning Bun
A weekend-only special that has developed something of a cult following. Brioche dough rolled with crushed cardamom, orange zest and demerara sugar, baked until caramelised and sticky. Get here before 10 or risk disappointment.
4.00
Two careers left behind. One wood-fired oven. No regrets.
We're Maya and James. She was an architect; he ran restaurants. Somewhere between a lockdown sourdough starter and a pastry stage in Lyon, we decided to build something of our own.
Ember & Grain opened on a rainy Tuesday in March 2023, on a side street in Crystal Palace. We bake everything here — in Bertha, our wood-fired oven — using flour from Heron Mill in Kent and butter from a farm in Surrey. The bread is slow-fermented, the pastries are laminated by hand, and the coffee comes from Crow & Bean, a micro-roaster in Peckham who deliver by cargo bike.
We're not trying to change the world. We're just trying to make really good bread, and to share it with people who care about where their food comes from.
From the Menu
A taste of what we bake, brew, and cook. The full menu changes with the seasons — and with what looks best at the market.
Classic White Sourdough
Our signature loaf — three-day ferment, open crumb, and a crust that crackles when you tear it. Baked in Bertha, our wood-fired oven, every morning before dawn.
Olive & Rosemary Sourdough
Kalamata olives and woody rosemary from our Crystal Palace garden, folded through a white sourdough base. The olives blister in the oven and leave pockets of salt and oil throughout.
Seasonal Loaf
Changes with the calendar. Right now: blood orange and fennel seed, a citrus-bright winter bread with an anise hum that warms you from the inside. Ask at the counter — it goes early.
Butter Croissant
Forty-eight layers of laminated dough and Isigny Sainte-Mere butter. Shatters on first bite, then melts. We shape them by hand at four in the morning and they are still warm at seven.
Almond Croissant
Day-old croissants soaked in orange blossom syrup, filled with frangipane, and baked again until the almond cap turns deep amber. Outrageously rich. Unapologetically so.
Seasonal Danish
This month: forced Yorkshire rhubarb and vanilla custard on a crisp puff pastry base, finished with a whisper of rose. The rhubarb arrives neon pink and we roast it gently to keep the colour.
Sourdough Fundamentals
Saturday, 7 March 2026 · 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Learn the craft that started it all for us. Five hands-on hours demystifying wild yeast, hydration, and the gentle patience that transforms flour and water into something extraordinary.
£85.00per person
Life at Ember & Grain
Saturday mornings, flour clouds, latte art, and the sound of bread cracking as it cools.
Come Find Us
42 Westow Hill, Crystal Palace, London SE19 1RX
Monday – Friday: 7am – 5pm
Saturday: 8am – 4pm
Sunday: 8am – 3pm
We close early when we sell out — and we usually sell out.