This bakery and wine bar is operated by the team behind Lyle’s in Shoreditch, James Lowe and John Ogier, and is found on the edge of Borough Market.
Housed in a 19th century building, Flor serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with homemade bread an integral part of the food offering thanks to a team of in-house bakers who churn out a line-up of goods - from robust sourdough loaves to flaky, buttery croissants. If eating in this translates to baked goods and sandwiches at lunchtime and flatbreads for dinner.
Head here on Saturdays for brunch to let someone else deal with the weekend’s washing up, while on any day of the week, all of the bakery’s breads and pastries are available to takeaway. In the evening, the space becomes a wine bar, with both food and wine coming from many of the same suppliers as at Lyle’s as well as the surrounding vendors who make up Borough Market’s bustling offerings. The menu changes regularly but typical serves include internationally influenced plates of things like scarlet prawns with green mandarin kosho; oysters with warming aguachile and cod brandade with peppers. For afters the restaurant’s signature chocolate tart with buckwheat and ivy house cream has become an almost-overnight success with pictures of this sleek dessert popping up all over Instagram since it first graced the menu.
The warm, laid-back vibes are enhanced by the interiors which are a pleasing mix of a polished marble window bar (perfect for solo dining) and sleek black chairs surrounding simple tables. Here it’s obvious that the focus is very much on the food and wine.
The drinks list is mid-length and features a well thought through, approachable selection of European wines as well as some slightly more adventurous serves in the form of Japanese whiskeys and Swedish ciders which make the perfect finishers.