Bring us a body.
Well, that’s one way to say hello. We thought Halloween might be a good excuse to turn “we should get coffee sometime” into an actual plan. Maybe it’s the person you always see in the elevator, or the neighbor whose dog’s name you know better than theirs. Whoever just came to mind, we’d love to meet them.
NOT SO VANILLA
Isn't it strange that we use “vanilla” to describe something plain or boring?
Because if you spend any time with an actual vanilla bean, there’s really nothing plain about it. For starters, a vanilla bean isn’t actually a bean - it’s the fruit of an orchid...who knew?!
The orchid flowers open for only a short window and are often pollinated by hand, one flower at a time. Months later that flower has become the long vanilla pod we eventually get to work with in our kitchen.
There’s something about that process that feels familiar to us. Croissants can definitely be made faster (and cheaper) - there are chemical dough conditioners that can be added to speed things along, resting times can be shortened or skipped, and the whole process can be carelessly compressed. Not at IZOLA. We give the gluten time to relax, the butter and dough time to get to the temperatures we want before we laminate again. It takes longer for sure, but we’ve found that when we stop trying to make the dough conform to our schedule and give it the time it needs, we make a better croissant.
I suppose that’s what I like about putting these two together. A vanilla bean has already taken this long, incredibly intentional path before it ever reaches our kitchen. And then we put it into something we’ve also decided not to rush.
For our Tahitian Vanilla Knot, we split whole vanilla beans and scrape out all those tiny black seeds — vanilla caviar — then put the seeds and the pods into milk and gently heat it. We refrigerate the mixture overnight, giving the vanilla time to infuse the milk.
The next day, that milk becomes part of the croissant dough. Then begins our process of mixing, chilling, tempering butter, laminating, resting, shaping, proofing and finally baking.
For the Tahitian Vanilla Knot, we cut the laminated dough into strips, braid them by hand and roll each braid into a knot.
I love the shape - it's sensuous with all those folds and curves that open up in the oven, giving you deeply golden edges on the outside and soft, buttery layers underneath.
And when the knots come out of the oven, we go back to the vanilla again. While they’re still warm, we dip them into a glaze made with more vanilla. The glaze slips into all those ridges and folds, and those tiny black flecks you see in the photo are the vanilla seeds themselves. A vanilla wave.
And that is what I love about this pastry. By the time you’re pulling one apart with your hands, you’re tasting the results of two intentional processes that started in different places and somehow found each other in this fragrant, buttery knot.
Not bad for vanilla. :)
OPEN EVERY DAY 7a–2p
In a rush? Just give us a call at 619-289-8358 when you arrive and we'll bring your order out to ya - we call it IZOLA Drive By.
YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY COULD BE HERE
There is a particular moment at IZOLA, right around dusk, that most never see. The sun drops behind the buildings, the bakery starts glowing through the glass windows, the lights come on over the patio and Fault Line Park is right outside.
It feels completely different from the IZOLA you know at 9 in the morning. And it turns out it’s a pretty great place for a party!
So, for whoever has been handed the job of figuring out this year’s company holiday gathering or for your next milestone event, we have an idea...
Bring the party to IZOLA.
The heated IZOLA patio was made for gathering over dinner, and the open dining room is meant for wandering and mingling. The IZOLA team, known for its hospitality and warmth, is the perfect team to welcome your guests, provide a drinks service and a hot-from-the-oven croissant bar for the one-of-a-kind night you want to have. Or you can simply rent the space and your favorite caterers/bartenders/etc. are welcome.
Mostly, if you’re the person staring at a list of San Diego event spaces right now trying to find someplace that doesn’t feel like every other company holiday party you’ve ever attended, come take a look.
The bakery is pretty magical at dusk.
And yes, your coworkers can think finding it was entirely your idea.
