THE UGLY BIT
One of the secret "off menu" faves at IZOLA is our Ugly Bit. The polar opposite of the architectural marvel of a traditional croissant, the Ugly Bit is more like its "anything goes," rebel cousin twice removed.
The Ugly Bit was born in the very early days of IZOLA when I was the croissant maker, sourdough maker, baker, and front of house all rolled up into one. I could only make something like 24 croissants a day which would all sell out, leaving me nothing to feed the hungry bellies of Jenny and Sacha! So I started saving the "ugly" ends of the croissant dough - when we cut the triangles that form our croissants, the very ends of the dough aren't used because they are not straight.
I would gather my stash of ugly ends or bits, smother them in organic dark brown sugar, a dusting of cinnamon and whatever else I had laying around - whether it was fresh peaches or raisins or frozen blackberries....I would roll them up like a gigantic cinnamon roll, plop them into a bowl and bake them off and the Ugly Bit was born. What I ended up with was a gooey treat, fluffy in some places, crunchy in others...a treat that tends to elicit wide eyes when we serve them at the bakeshop because of how big and crazy looking they can get. Everyone's favorite part is when you get near the bottom of the bowl (yes it is baked and served in a glass prep bowl) where the caramelized brown sugar has pooled into an addictive sugary glaze.
Now we offer the Ugly Bit as a first come, first serve item (so not available as online pre-order), because we still only use the ends of our dough so inventory is limited. The glass bowl that it sits in is yours to keep, or bring it back to the bakeshop and we'll reuse it! The Ugly Bit is the tastiest way that we're actioning on our environmental mission - reduce, reuse, recycle! 😍
Pre-orders are open! While the Ugly Bit is not available for pre-order, you can add it to your order when you pop in, just ask the team at the pick-up counter.
We're open and baking hot from the oven:
Tuesday - Saturday
7a-2p
Live music every Saturday
Either pop on by or place an order ahead of time. If you have a pre-order, you can also use IZOLA Drive By — just double park outside, give us a call at 619-289-8358, and we'll deliver your croissant and cappuccino to you in your car!
OUR WHY
With a team of over 50, baking hot from the oven, and serving an artisanal product made by hand, our days can be long, hard, disappointing, exhausting....so why do we keep at it? It is the people - our guests, our team and our community.
Over the past couple of weeks, we've gotten to celebrate so much...from helping to create memories for a friend's daughter as Chef Lane showed her the ropes at the bake bar, to saying goodbye (for now) to a team member headed back to college. Maya has worked at IZOLA since high school and has returned each summer since. It has been a true honor to see her navigate her way through adulthood, and this summer taking lead on training our inaugural team in our back of the house operations. It meant so much to see the impact she has had on the team and the tears that were shed as we said our farewells. She is such a bright light and we're honored each time she chooses to work with us.
We also got to celebrate an important personal milestone of one of our team members, and recognize another for their above and beyond contribution to IZOLA. Our team is filled with super hard working, wicked smart, compassionate people and so it takes someone incredibly special to stand out from our already exceptionally strong team and we were happy to take a moment to celebrate team member Adrian's contributions.
And lastly a couple of super fun happenings around the bakeshop:
After seeing Chef Lane's new ink, we all now want to get Moroccan Black Olive Chocolate Croissant tattoos....
We also got to see our first prescription for IZOLA! ❤️
Since our closure on October 27, 2023, Jenny and I have been working non-stop toward reopening and building a stronger IZOLA and so it really fills us to the brim when we get to see all of these fun memories being created around us.
But we've also been having a lot of conversations around how to protect both ourselves and IZOLA for the long term because maintaining our current schedule just isn't sustainable in the long run. Success to us would be if IZOLA is around for decades to come, a community space, a place where kids can grow up and then bring their own kids to IZOLA...
And so as our team has gained tremendous competency and confidence, this past week we snuck away for a few days to visit family in Colorado. I may have had to drag Jenny away on vacation kicking and screaming (not quite, but almost!), but we were both grateful for the time with family and seeing Sacha reunite with his cousins to enjoy our family tradition of summer on the lake. And at my dad's request for a suitcase full of croissants to surprise my mom with, we delivered!
Huge kudos to our team, and our Assistant General Manager Jeff, who guided the team while we were out. And boy was he put to the test! On Tuesday morning, all before we were even open, he "got" to:
Discover that the internet was down, and it stayed down throughout most of the day. To support our ability to bake hot from the oven and serve both walk-ins and pre-orders, we have an interwoven system of Google Sheets that helps us navigate the bake and allows us to know what we have available to sell. This was another big win for the Solis, which allowed us to move to a hot spot for the morning. And a big thank you to our gracious customers, as we took orders manually for the day!
Navigate a possible plumbing issue that could have easily shut us down for the day. Fortunately, it was an easy fix. Whew. And kudos to team member Caitrin for spotting the issue and reporting it out before it became something serious! Another team member soon headed back to college that we're gonna miss...
We received a report that our Dojo cooler just ceased cooling properly. Thanks to Erick and Alejandra for supporting it and getting it back up and running quickly!
Just another day in the life of a bakery I guess?!
NOW SEEKING....
IZOLA is now seeking a VIDEO EDITOR! This person would be instrumental in creating new learning management assets for our training programs. The scope of the work would be:
Filming me, Jeffrey, to capture the full task creation, whether it be front-of-house POS training, opening up the coffee bar, and more.
We cut the videos into training modules and load them into our learning management system (LMS). We use Rippling for our LMS—it's super easy and requires no prior experience or technical expertise.
These training assets allow us to train new team members virtually so they can hit the ground running on their first shift. They also provide them with important foundational knowledge to build their confidence in their competency.
Interested? Please send your resume to Jenny.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Happening next Wednesday, August 21!
Our mission at IZOLA is to change the way that Americans think about croissants and sourdough. As we take each step toward this goal, our decisions are framed by our justice-based values and the guest experience.
The five key areas that guide our justice-based decisions are:
Economic Justice
Environmental Justice
Racial Justice
LGBTQIA+ Justice
Gender Justice
As we raise funds to build IZOLA Main - our new zero-emission production factory in City Heights - we are driven by how this step will help support our justice goals....Like the increased efficiency gains that will allow us to reinvest back into our team through higher wages and more career development and training. Our current leadership team is diverse - 67% female, 50% BIPOC, and 17% LGBTQIA+ and our investment in IZOLA Main allows us to scale this further. Investing in material handling for our production will allow us to remove thousands of pounds of plastic and paper from ever being produced. And there is so much more...
Join Jenny and me at our next investor conversation, where you'll learn how we plan to impact our team and community.
Wednesday August 21
6:30p on Google Meet
Learn more about IZOLA Main and our plans for the future as we raise funds for IZOLA's next chapter.
If you missed out on the Early Bird Perk that ended on July 31, don't miss out on the next one...Ending soon on September 15th.
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 Wednesday call and drop by for a minute to say hi or stay the whole time. It's fun and super casual. We'll share with you where we've been and our plans for the future.
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, you may lose your entire investment.
If you haven't seen the new installation in the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park, it's time to make a trip to see the new Exchange Pavilion. Designed by Heleo Architecture in collaboration with Daniel Ruanova, it represents and serves as a symbolic
space connecting our cross-border communities.
The team at Heleo has been our close partner on IZOLA Main and has been instrumental in bringing our vision to life.
IZOLA LIVE MUSIC SATURDAYS
Join us every Saturday for live music at IZOLA. Here's who we'll be hosting tomorrow...
XAVY
8-9a
Xavy is a San Diego native saxophonist with a wide range of musical interests. He is also a member of the Funk/R&B band Heaping Teaspoon.
CARA CORMIER
9-10a
Cara grew up on a small farm in Kansas singing folk songs, four-part acapella hymns, and musical theatre soundtracks. Her style is reminiscent of John Prine and Gillian Welch channeling Bonnie Raitt at a bluegrass jam.
MAYBEAR
10-11a
Maybear is a singer-songwriter and indie rock musician based in San Diego. Some of her influences are Clairo, Phoebe Bridgers and Raveena.
KBKAWAII
11a-12p
Kenzie Barnickle is an indie-acoustic-pop-punk singer songwriter raised in Nashville, TN. Music fuels her creativity, and she hopes to spread whimsy and comfort to any of those who listen to her music.
MADISON NOCON
12-1p
Madison Nocon is a local singer-songwriter born and raised in San Diego, CA. She got her first guitar when she was 5 and has been writing poems and music since she can remember!
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