Awesome Thing #30 - Beyond Bread
Situated near Goodge Street station in Central London, Beyond Bread is a gluten free bakery that I discovered last year.
Selling a range of imaginatively titled sandwiches, served by friendly staff in the trendiest part of Fitzrovia, Beyond Bread is definitely the coolest place I have ever eaten. Every time I visit I feel like I get a little bit nearer to understanding why Cara Delevingne is famous; I edge ever closer to wanting to actually listen to Drake. It is exciting to me that I can finally embrace a “hip” atmosphere, having been consistently alienated from such establishments by a combination of three factors: my inability to imbibe gluten, my dislike of vegan food, and a further dislike of caffeinated coffee. Beyond Bread serves super trendy sandwiches that I can actually digest! Huzzah! (I just lost ten of my dwindling cool points by celebrating like an 18th century naval officer, but heck, it was worth it.)
I have often found that with exclusively gluten free establishments, an assumption is made that those who can’t eat gluten don’t wish to eat anything fun or with a taste. Beyond Bread does not fall into this trap, instead providing a range of exciting tastes and flavours for me to explore. While eating in is not necessarily the most comfortable option (don’t be fooled, it does not go as far around the corner as you think) you can have sandwiches and pastries to take away, as well as whole baguettes and loaves of bread.
There are a couple of other gluten free bakeries that I have visited but the pastry at Beyond Bread is honestly beyond compare, purely based on the fact that it tastes and feels like pastry. Often pastries made from anything other than wheat are heavy and chewy. Beyond Bread have managed to achieve flaky, buttery puff pastry that melts in your mouth. If my waistline and wallet would allow it, I would be eating there every day.
London is surprisingly difficult to navigate when you’ve got this particular allergy. Euston Station, for example, stocks fairly limited options for the digestively challenged despite having at least six different food outlets within the central concourse alone. Beyond Bread is a welcome discovery and well worth investigating!
