AROUND IZOLA'S TABLE
This week we've been working on installing our new IZOLA sign at the front door and I sent a sneak peak to my mom. She responded saying that Grandma Izola would be overwhelmed by seeing her name up on our wall. My mom just has this special way of pausing to reflect, remember, and appreciate the journey...And so I was reminded of my grandmother, Izola (pronounced eye-zola) Eaton, for whom our bakeshop is named after.
Growing up as a closeted queer kid in Kansas, I spent my teenage years feeling on edge, knowing I was the kind of different that wasn't welcome by many in my community. But at Izola's kitchen table? Everyone was welcome.
She would invite you in with open arms, sit you down at her kitchen table, and serve you a slice of warm cherry pie with a cup of hot Folgers coffee. It was a gathering place where folks seeking refuge, comfort, or just good conversation could come. This is why we named our bakery after my grandmother. We strive to create a space like Grandma Izola's.
We welcome you in with open arms. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from and who you love.
Welcome to IZOLA.
(above) Oooey gooey Lao Gan Ma Gruyere. Served hot and melty to your table or to go. Emmi AOP Gruyere and a mountain of Chinese Chili Crisp. Yum, yum, Yum.
This week, we had so much fun welcoming 20 fourth graders (!) from the Urban Discovery Academy to IZOLA. The kids gathered around the table to learn about how croissants and sourdough are made, share their culinary traditions, and eat. They each received a hot-from-the-oven croissant to enjoy, and afterwards, team member Cliff helped guide the kids through cleaning up and wiping the tables down.
On their behind-the-scenes tour, Colin shared all about our proofers and ovens at the Bake Bar and proper handwashing. Then, they got hands-on with egg-washing croissants. In the Dojo, Chef Lidia taught us how we get all that butter into 96 layers in each croissant, and everyone helped roll a croissant!
It was a joy to share with each of these children. Big thanks to Miss Abbey for creating this learning opportunity for her class and for all the work you do to shape the young minds of our future.
JOIN US TOMORROW
If you want to learn more about how you could help support IZOLA's justice-based mission, join Jenny and me tomorrow on Google Meet.
We aim to change the way America thinks about croissants and sourdough. The IZOLA way. Hot from the oven, great hospitality, amazing quality. Justice. Investing in American Green Manufacturing. Creating careers. Improving the quality of our bread and croissants. Planning to open 12 IZOLAs in SoCal. Hard? Yes. But it is so exciting to invest in American manufacturing and our community.
Believe in what we do? Join us.
To learn more, RSVP for our call, drop by for a minute, and say hi or stay the whole time. It's a fun time and super casual. We'll share with you where we've been, our plans for the future, and why we are raising over $3M next year.
Never invested before? Not to worry! It's super simple.
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
IZOLA LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Each Saturday from 8a-1p IZOLA becomes a space where local artists can come to share their music. Here are a few of the musicians that will be joining us this week!
LEATEA
8-9a
Leatea (San Diego native Dylann Jelden) has been a musician all her life, beginning with classical violin at age 4. She began writing songs and incorporating guitar in high school. She performs regularly in San Diego.
LILIA ROSE
11a-12p
Lilia Rose is a local singer- songwriter in San Diego. Her sound is melodic and warm. Some of her influences are Fleetwood Mac, Alanis Moorisette, and Vance Joy. Lilia is excited to share more of her music with others.
BRIANNA GRACE
12-1p
Brianna Grace is a San Diego-based dreamer, nature lover, and musician. Often compared to Alanis Morrissette, Stevie Nicks, and Jewel, Brianna has a unique yet nostalgic americana/rock sound.
IZOLA'S CHOCOLATE CROISSANT
What has 96 layers of butter from Normandy and 4 full bars of Valrhona dark chocolate?
The IZOLA Chocolate Croissant...decadent....delightful.
Psst, if you really want to sound like an insider, ask for a "CCX!" That's the name we use behind the scenes.
When we first developed our chocolate croissant we knew we wanted it to have the same lofty, pillowy honeycomb structure of our traditional croissant, paired with a shatteringly crisp crunch, and end to end chocolate. So in true IZOLA fashion, we tested and tested and then tested some more.
We tried different methods of encasing the chocolate, different shapes of chocolate and different amounts of chocolate. What we learned is that there would be a fine line we had to walk with the amount of chocolate we used. The more the better in our opinion, but more chocolate also meant more weight for the croissant lamination to fight up against, or in other words the croissant would not be able to take on its lofty structure.
And, of course, we tested many, many different brands of chocolate and different cocoa percentages, from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. The hands-down winner through our blind taste tests was Valrhona dark chocolate with 48% cocoa content. And not only did they come out on top flavor-wise, but they're a Certified B Corp, determined to make a difference in the cocoa industry. Yay Valrhona!
All of Valrhona's cocoa beans are traceable back to the original producer - they know who harvested them and that they were produced in conditions that met their strict standards. They work with their producers to improve living conditions, help their children access education, and support them in adopting sustainable farming practices.
Join us for a chocolate croissant...we serve everything hot from the oven from
7a - 2p every Tuesday through Sunday.
There is no more enjoyable combination for me than a warm chocolate croissant and a hot cappuccino crafted from beans from the Verao co-op in Brazil and grass-fed milk. But if you're a true chocolate aficionado, I invite you to enjoy our Valrhona Double Mocha...made with Valrhona cocoa and very lightly sweetened with organic sugar.
Or for brunch, our croissants pair so well with our Bortolomiol Prosecco - the bubbly prosecco serves as a crisp accompaniment to the buttery goodness of an IZOLA croissant.
ENDS IN 7 WEEKS!
If you've considered investing in IZOLA through our equity raise, our current early bird perk ends in 7 short weeks! You can find details on the share price discount here, under the "PERKS" section.
If you'd like to learn more about why we're raising funds and how the equity raise works, join Jenny and me next Thursday, November 7th, at 6:30p PST on Google Meet for an investor conversation.
We'll share why we started IZOLA at the start of a global pandemic, what has kept us going each day as our little project has grown to over 40 employees, and what our vision is for the future.
We aim to change the way America thinks about croissants and sourdough. The IZOLA way. Hot from the oven, great hospitality, amazing quality. Justice. Investing in American Green Manufacturing. Creating careers. Improving the quality of our bread and croissants. Planning to open 12 IZOLAs in SoCal. Hard? Yes. But it is so exciting to invest in American manufacturing and our community.
Believe in what we do? Join us.
To learn more, RSVP for our call, drop by for a minute, and say hi or stay the whole time. It's a fun time and super casual. We'll share with you where we've been, our plans for the future, and why we are raising over $3M next year.
Never invested before? Not to worry! It's super simple.
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
THE MAKING OF...
The IZOLA Almond Croissant!
If you checked out our reel last week taking you through the 4 day journey to create our Traditional Croissant, believe it or not, but our Almond Croissant takes even longer to craft!
The popular origin story of almond croissants is that they were invented as a clever way to repurpose leftover croissants at the end of the day. Bakers would take the leftover croissants, slice them open, add almond filling, bake them again and voilà - the almond croissant was born!
For the IZOLA Almond Croissant, we use a fully baked croissant as the foundation. On day 5, we slice open the baked croissant to reveal the lacy honeycomb interior. It then gets a heavy soak of house-made brandy syrup.
Then the most important part - the filling! When we were developing our recipe for the Almond Croissant, the one thing we knew we had to have was almond filling throughout the ENTIRE croissant, in each and every bite!
So we add a large scoop of our house made almond cream inside the croissant and spread it across the entire croissant. Our almond cream is made with organic eggs, almonds toasted and ground in house, Tahitian vanilla beans, organic cane sugar, organic milk...we don't add any natural or imitation almond flavorings, what you taste is pure almonds!
After we put the lid back on the croissant, we add even more almond cream, then pile it high with sliced almonds...almonds on top of almonds on top of almonds...Almonds in every bite for sure!
Then Day 6 is bake day, where we bake in small batches all morning long to serve them hot
from the oven. After they exit the oven, our Bake team gives each Almond Croissant a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
Swing on by every Tuesday - Sunday, from 7a-2p. Pre-orders for the week are also open - you'll get to cut the line, head straight to the pickup counter and we'll have your order ready for ya. Or take advantage of IZOLA Drive By - stay in your car, give us a call and we'll bring your order right out to you!
JOIN US ON FRIDAY!
Join Jenny and me this Friday October 25th at 3:30p on Google Meet for an investor conversation. We'll share why we started IZOLA at the start of a global pandemic, what has kept us going each day as our little project has grown to over 50 employees, and what our vision is for the future.
Today, our passionate, hardworking Dojo team is working day and night 7 days a week so that we can bake about 1000 croissants a day, served hot from the oven. We are raising funds now, which will allow us to increase our production by 20x!
We aim to change the way America thinks about croissants and sourdough. The IZOLA way. Hot from the oven, great hospitality, amazing quality. Justice. Investing in American Green Manufacturing. Creating careers. Improving the quality of our bread and croissants. Planning to open 12 IZOLAs in SoCal. Hard? Yes. But so exciting to invest in American manufacturing and in our community.
Believe in what we do? Join us.
To learn more, RSVP for our Friday call and drop by for a minute and say hi or stay the whole time. It's a fun time and super casual. We'll share with you where we've been, our plans for the future, and why we are raising over $3M in the next year.
Never invested before? Not to worry! It's super simple.
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.