The Greek Bakery

Thinking about fresh bread inspired me to write this story about a wonderful Greek Bakery that I used to visit many years ago.

Living in Harringay which is a suburb of North London in the 1980’s was a surreal experience in many ways.

Although this was England, Harringay is a highly ethnic part of London, and had a large Cypriot population (Greeks/Turks from the island of Cyprus), and driving down the main road (Green Lanes), many of the banks and businesses not only looked foreign, the shop names were in Greek lettering as well.

We lived about ½ a mile off Green Lanes, and close to use was a Greek Bakery that was one of those that you would walk inside just for the smell.

They baked Greek breads, pastries and cakes 7 days a week, at a time when few bakeries were open on a Sunday, and it was a great experience to go there early on a Sunday morning and buy some Greek Bread for breakfast.

 Their bread was often covered in Poppy, Sesame and other seeds, and it just tasted so good. Living in Harringay I developed a real love of the Greek and Cypriot foods, especially the breads and pastries.

We moved from there to the opposite side of London about 1990 and I have never been back since, so the bakery has probably long since gone, but the memory lingers.

Being a bread-a-holic, it’s great to see that there are many places these days that specialise in breads for breakfast, and when I head back to the USA to see my daughters, there is nothing nicer to go to breakfast at a place that serves good coffee and freshly baked bagels. But I do still miss that Greek Bakery with it’s wonderful smells and delicious fresh bread.