TIME FOR A TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS
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The IZOLA Muffuletta Croissant is inspired by the legendary New Orleans sandwich. Three types of pork - sweet capicola, mortadella and Genoa salami - piled high and are paired with provolone cheese. We add a briny olive salad that is accented with pepperoncini, vinegar, carrots and more. All wrapped in our Beldi olive croissant...made with chopped Beldi olives, buckwheat and sourdough starter.
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It's like a charcuterie plate wrapped in an IZOLA croissant. Yum, yum, yum. Served hot-from-the-oven 7 days a week, from 7a-2p. Pre-order now or just pop on by.
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In a rush and have a pre-order? Just call us at the bakery when you arrive, and we'll bring your order out to your car with a smile! We call it IZOLA Drive By.
A DEDICATION TO MY POP
My dad, John Owen Brown, passed on Wednesday June 4th, surrounded by the family he loved. While the bakery is named after my maternal grandmother, Izola Eaton, my dad's influence runs deep throughout the bakeshop.
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Dad loved to work, had been doing it all his life, from candling eggs and bagging groceries as a kid, then beginning his journey as an entrepreneur in college. As a college student he created Mid Continent Entertainment, producing and managing bands that would go on to revolutionize the Rock and Roll sound in the midwest. He spearheaded the 1965 renovation of the Bowersock Opera House in Lawrence, Kansas, into the legendary Red Dog Inn - where acts like Ike and Tina Turner and the Drifters have graced the stage. He moved onto farming, then later built Colorado Tractor Company with my mom, followed by a move into what might have been his favorite job, grandpa to his 5 grandkids.
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When I look around IZOLA, I see Dad’s mark everywhere — in our Saturday live music, a nod to his days as a music producer; in the 700+ investors who joined us because he taught me to think 5, 10, 15 steps ahead; in our safety protocols and redundancies, born from his belief in always being prepared; in the detailed systems we use to move product through the bakery — from making to refrigeration to baking to selling; and even in the absurd amount of rope we keep on hand, because, as Dad always said, you never know when you’ll need to tie something together.
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He taught me self-reliance, how to work hard, and the importance of loving what you do. Our space at IZOLA takes on new meaning now that Dad is gone and I'm grateful I get to be reminded of him each day as his legacy lives on through IZOLA.
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I've been so, so lucky that both of my parents have fully supported all of my wild endeavors - like when I traded my freshly earned civil engineering degree for a dream of becoming a photographer, to climbing mountains or living in the jungle, to following the journey of immigrants across the border as a photojournalist, and now as a baker.
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Dad, thank you for always cheering me on and believing in me. Here’s to all the dads who lift us up, push us forward, and help us believe in ourselves. Happy Father’s Day.
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And now a little vid of my Dad basking in the spotlight at IZOLA 13th Street on his birthday two years ago:
LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Every Saturday, we host live music at the bakeshop from 8a-1p. Come on by to see how talented our local San Diego musicians are! Follow us on Instagram to see the lineup!
96 LAYERS
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Our croissants take our Dojo team 4 days to make. Can we speed up the process? Absolutely! However, we choose not to use dough conditioners to accelerate it. Instead, we rely on the magic ingredient of time, which allows the gluten to relax and the flavor to develop.
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At the end of this 4-day journey, we create a magnificent work of art - 96 layers of Normandy butter, each as thin as a strand of hair, layered between our croissant dough.
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And for my fellow engineers who want to know the math behind our 96 layers, here’s the breakdown!
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On day 3 all of our lamination occurs. The first step in lamination is to sandwich 1kg of Beurre D'Isigny between two layers of croissant dough. LAYER COUNT: 1
After a rest in the cooler, we proceed to our second pass, where the "butter sandwich" is stretched even thinner. Then, we fold it in thirds, ultimately creating three layers (3 x 1 = 3). LAYER COUNT: 3
After yet another rest in our coolers, we roll out this dough again, then fold it back on itself twice, creating four layers of three (4 x 3 = 12). LAYER COUNT: 12
Then, you guessed it, another rest in our coolers before its final stretch. At this final step, we fully stretch it out, then cut it into triangles and roll the dough into the perfect croissants you see in the photo above. There are four revolutions in our roll, creating eight layers of 12 (8 x 12 = 96). FINAL LAYER COUNT: 96!
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And it is each of these 96 layers of butter that are key to the delicate, yet rich flavor of the IZOLA croissant. Additionally, did you know that the moisture in the butter also contributes to the formation of the air pockets that create the honeycomb crumb structure of a croissant? As the heat of our incredible SALVA ovens hits the croissant, the butter releases steam, which creates these pockets (with the help of some yeast too!).
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We're serving up these architectural marvels 7 days a week. Hot from the oven from 7a-2p. Pre-order now or just pop on by.
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In a rush and have a pre-order? Just call us at the bakery when you arrive, and we'll bring your order out to your car with a smile! We call it IZOLA Drive By.
Thank you to Hannah for the gift of your art. Your watercolor graces the wall of our office and we look upon it fondly.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US...
Tomorrow we celebrate IZOLA's 5th anniversary. I am humbled, astonished, and so grateful. In many ways, it has been a long 5 years, and in other ways it has felt like a blink of an eye.
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From our humble beginnings teaching ourselves how to make croissants, failing miserably over and over again in more ways than you could imagine, and lowering our sourdough and croissants out our 3rd story window to guests waiting on the street below, this has been an adventure to say the least!
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And fast forward to today at our beautiful new location...where we have an amazingly strong and inspiring team that provides the kind of hospitality my Grandma Izola would have loved. It brings me so much gratitude to see the joy on our guests' faces in the dining room.
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Thanks for walking along on this journey with us.Â
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PS - For a peek back in time to our beginnings, here are a few of the earliest email newsletters I sent out.
LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Every Saturday, we host live music at the bakeshop from 8a-1p. Come on by to see how talented our local San Diego musicians are! Follow us on Instagram to see the lineup!
MOP IT UP!
Ooey gooey, deep brown butter flavor soaked into our vanilla knot, topped with Maldon sea salt from the UK - I just keep wanting to take bite after bite of our new Brown Butter Caramel Knot until there is nothing left. And I'm not done until I mop up all the goodness of the brown butter caramel that drips onto the plate.
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Hot from the oven 7 days a week, from 7a-2p. Pre-order now or just pop on by.
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In a rush and have a pre-order? Just call us at the bakery when you arrive, and we'll bring your order out to your car with a smile! We call it IZOLA Drive By.Â
Hooray! We're honored to be named as one of Ranch & Coast Magazine's editor's picks for Best Restaurants 2025. It was so humbling to share the same space as the other picks...and a solid reminder of how lucky we are here in San Diego to be surrounded by so much flavor. Check out the other picks - I definitely added a few spots to my list that I can't wait to try!
LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Every Saturday, we host live music at the bakeshop from 8a-1p. Come on by to see how talented our local San Diego musicians are! Follow us on Instagram to see the lineup!
LEATEA
8-9a
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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.
CARA CORMIER
9-10a
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Cara grew up on a small farm in Kansas singing folk songs, four-part acapella hymns, and musical theatre soundtracks. Cara's style is reminiscent of John Prine and Gillian Welch channeling Bonnie Raitt at a bluegrass jam. She enjoys turning her personal humiliations into songs and sharing them with the world.
Her first album, Kansas Stories, is available on all streaming platforms.
MICHAEL DWYER
11a-12p
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Michael J. Dwyer is a singer-songwriter, playing guitar and harmonica and singing rock, folk, blues, and Americana covers and originals.