ON FIRE
The sourdough team is on fire š„....I honestly think the team is making the best-tasting sourdough that has ever come out of our ovens (including when I was making/baking everything myself). With just 4 ingredients ā organic flour, salt, water, and leaven ā there is no hiding behind our Wild Sourdough. It's pure technique and love. Our sourdough has a hint of sourness from the ferment, an open and chewy crumb, and a crisp crust. Jenny's favorite is the Cranberry Pecan Sourdough because it's just slightly sweet from the cranberries and has the nutty crunchiness from the whole pecans. Spread a little Beurre D'isigny on top and add a sprinkling of Maldon salt. Yum!
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Great job Alyssa, Joseph, Ari, Maddie, Chef Lane, and our newest Sourdough team member, Jennifer.
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Online pre-orders are open now, or pop on by! We're open and pulling loaves hot from the oven from 7a-2p, every Tuesday through Sunday.
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*** Pro tip: Sit at the bake bar and see the towering loaves coming right off the stone decks. Chef Lane, Colin, Ari, Olivia, and Zach are super knowledgeable and love to chat.
BEER AND WINE SERVICE LAUNCHES FRIDAY!
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Ahhhhhh this is the life I've been waiting for, tasting delicious beer and wine in a delightful space......We're excited to announce that beer and wine service at IZOLA launches this Friday! Over the course of the last many weeks, Tammy and Daniel at Breakthru Beverage have been taking us on a journey with wine and beer. I had a clear vision of what flavors I wanted our small and focused menu to consist of, and some picks were quick and easy, like the authentic trappist beer, Chimay Red. Others took a few twists and turns before we landed on the final pick.
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We'll have a crisp, dry bubbly for you that will compliment our buttery traditional croissant, a red that goes hand in hand with the bulgogi beef in our Bibibimbap croissant, and a white and rosƩ that both enhance the experience of our pastries.
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The Belgian ale from Chimay is perfect with the earthiness of our Olive Pecan Sourdough, and the cider and radler we've picked are both super refreshing.
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You will also be welcome to BYOB for a $20 corkage.
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We look forward to hosting you for weekend brunch with your girlfriends, birthday celebrations with family, or a simple lunch with a Bibimbap Croissant and beer.
THE IZOLA COMMUNITY SHOWS UP IN FULL FORCE
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Last week, we shared the inspiring journeys of two of our team members, Adrian and Jennifer.
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Jennifer just moved out of a shelter and into her new apartment, and we asked if the IZOLA community could help us celebrate her with some housewarming gifts. And holy moly did the IZOLA community step in ā and in a huge way. The call to help furnish her apartment went out Sunday evening and by 6 a.m. Monday morning, Jennifer awoke to a doorstep full of housewarming gifts.
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We cannot thank you enough for caring for our team and our community. We feel honored to work with people like Jennifer every day, and seeing this physical and tangible show of love and kindness brought tears to Jenny, myself, and Jennifer. THANK YOU.
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Jennifer would like to share a message with you:
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS + SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS!
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It's a complex journey we are on here at IZOLA ā from making hundreds of artisanal sourdough loaves and thousands of croissants with 96 layers of butter a week to tracking the progress of each unit to ensure we can bake and serve the food hot from the oven to the guests with warm hospitality. Our team is fantastic; I bet many of you have felt it.
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The only way we can deliver this consistently is by building a solid team of people who are kind, hard-working, curious, and have integrity. How do we do it? We prioritize these personality traits and values in our hiring instead of previously acquired skills/education/training, and then we train, train, train. We welcome applicants from all life experiences, including those with justice-involved backgrounds. We have found that folks who are determined to follow a new path in life are highly motivated to come to work with that same drive, determination, care, and passion....the exact recipe for a successful IZOLA team member.
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If you're curious about our processĀ or have any questions about our journey as an employer, please feel free to contactĀ Jenny.Ā SheĀ would love to share the ins and outs of what we've learned so far.
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Second Chance has a new class (cohort) every month and they host monthly Mock Interviews where you'll have the opportunity to meet the newest cohort, interview them and maybe even find your newest high performance hire. If you have visited IZOLA, it is very likely that at least one person, whether it was the team member greeting you and taking your order, making the dough for your croissant, delivering your order, or clearing your table, came to IZOLA from a Second Chance mock interview. š
We try to attend as many mock interviews as possible, even if just to provide practice opportunities for the class. We'd love to see you at next month's!
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If you're ready to connect and possibly hire someone from the justice-involved community, reach out to the folks at SECOND CHANCE. You can email Scott Taylor (that's him and Jenny above at this month's Mock Interviews) at staylor@secondchanceprogram.orgĀ or call him at (619) 839-0960 and just tell him IZOLA sent ya.
PRO BONO ATTORNEY?
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As we learn more about the obstacles that the justice-involved community faces, at IZOLA, we're trying to educate ourselves about how we can best support our team members. Thanks to the openness of our team members, we're learning more about some of the local services that are available for healthcare, housing, and more. We've also heard from the IZOLA community and are so thankful for the information, so keep it coming!
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One connection we would love to make is if you know of a criminal defense attorney who might be available for pro bono work. We're looking for people who could assist IZOLA team members who have already completed programs at amazing organizations like Second Chance, are on the IZOLA team, and are faced with clearing through vestigial legal issues. Someone who can help us prevent legal setbacks for our team members who are well on their way to being contributing community members. Navigating any large public system can be incredibly daunting, and we can only imagine how much more daunting and, honestly, frightening it must be when it comes to our justice system because each decision could undo the progress they have worked so hard for.
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If you or someone you know would like to talk further, please email JennyĀ or call her at 619-887-6300.
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAYS
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Every Saturday we host live music at IZOLA from 8a-1p. Come on by and see how talented our San Diego community is! Here are just a few of the artists stopping by this week.
ALAN JELDEN
8-9a
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Alan has been playing guitar for over 40 years. He has a wide range of musical styles that he likes, and plays many classic rock songs. He loves spending time with his beautiful wife and daughters, and on occasion has performed with his older daughter Dylann, a.k.a. Leatea at Izola, which he really loves to do.
KAILA SHAW
9-10a
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Kaila is a self-taught Singer-Songwriter and acoustic guitar player. Her music style is peaceful acoustic, upbeat covers and thoughtful original lyrics and melodies. She puts her heart into every song and when performing she loves encouraging the audience to experience the music and interact.
JADEN GUERRERO
11a-12p
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Jaden is an independent artist from San Diego! He loves to sing, act, write, and play guitar. Studying theatre and music at USD, Jaden has a deep passion for storytelling, allowing all genres of music to inspire himself and others. Namely Neo soul, jazz, indie, rock, hip hop, Reggae and R&B.
CAITLIN MACDONALD
12-1p
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Cat Macdonald is a singer and songwriter in San Diego. She writes songs about pancakes, carousel horses, longing and divinity.
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. š³
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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.)Ā
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CELEBRATING JENNIFERĀ
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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 andĀ 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.Ā
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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.Ā If you have any questions, please email JennyĀ 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. š¤£
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 GruyĆØre 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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Ā We've paired swirls of spicy Lao Gan Ma with the slightly nutty, warm Swiss GruyĆØre 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 theĀ Ocean Discovery InstituteĀ in City Heights.Ā 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.