The Tale of Shaheen Peerbhai’s Fitzrovia Bakery, Miel

by Pablo Scheffer

Miel Bakery in London captures a lot of what we love here at Bimble. Located snugly on a Fitzrovia side street, this independent French bakery beckons passers-by with the smell of coffee and freshly baked sourdough. Its counter is stacked with trays of canelés, madeleines and various viennoiseries, and its small open kitchen is always abuzz with activity. Behind the pastel-blue storefront of this vibrant little shop, however, lies an unlikely story of passion, perseverance, and chased dreams.

In 2012, Shaheen Peerbhai left Mumbai on a scholarship to study French patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, the world’s top pastry school. By that point, her food blog had taken off, her articles had been published by large news outlets, and she had become food editor for the newly-established BBC Good Food India. ‘I found a way to make it happen’, she says, ‘and it happened’.

Peerbhai was 17 when her family first got an oven. Baking quickly became a passion, but aspirations of life as a pastry chef for a long time remained a fantasy. ‘I had parents saying, “it’s not a real job”, and so I put those dreams on hold’. She duly completed business school, and went on to work at a local IT company, baking in evenings and weekends and bringing her creations to the office as treats for her colleagues. It was these colleagues who suggested she start a blog about her hobby. Initially a personal journal where she documented her recipes, Peerbhai’s Purple Foodie quickly garnered wider attention, and soon she began freelancing as a food writer. When her pieces started to get published by GQ and CNN, she realised something had changed. ‘I began to take it more seriously and think, “you know what, I should just apply for a scholarship and figure out a way to go to France”’.

‘It’s funny and bizarre’, she says laughing, ‘in my application to Le Cordon Bleu I wrote that when I came back from cooking school I wanted to be the food editor for the top Indian food magazine — there was none at that time. A month later I got a call from Good Food’. In 2011, the BBC’s culinary platform launched its Indian publication, and on the back of her new-found reputation as a food writer Peerbhai was hired as a consulting editor. She started work at the magazine, but dreams of pastry persisted. When, a year later, she secured scholarships from the James Beard Foundation and the Culinary Trust, these dreams suddenly became a reality.

Through these scholarships, Peerbhai was able to study at the fabled Cordon Bleu schools in Paris and London, and the Centre de Formation d’Alain Ducasse in Argenteuil. Things moved fast. She trained at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, and even briefly ran her own Parisian pop-up (recipes from this pop-up were later collated into an award-winning cookbook). She returned to Mumbai and Delhi to teach baking masterclasses, and catered desserts for thousands of people at one of India’s largest weddings. ‘I don’t think you can ever stop learning. There’s so much variety, there are so many different grains, so many different techniques’. ‘But’, she says, ‘I always knew I wanted to eventually have my own little place’.

This little place became Miel. After 7 years of travelling, cooking, and learning, Peerbhai finally opened her classic-inspired bakery on Warren Street in 2019, going back to the basics of great French patisserie. ‘My values are to have the freshest, best-quality ingredients, prepared with good care and technique’.

Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of nearby Tottenham Court Road, Miel brings to central London a piece of rural France, serving humble and delicious breads and pastries to an ever-growing base of loyal local customers. ‘I wanted it to be this thing on a quaint side street, a happy discovery away from the tourist traffic of Soho’. And a happy discovery it sure is.

With the kitchen baking at steady intervals, those in the know look forward to croissants at 8, tarts at 10, and a batch of freshly-baked canelés at noon. In Fitzrovia, or in London for that matter, they’ll tell you, you won’t get much closer to France than this.

When I videocall Peerbhai during the December lockdown, she is sitting in her bakery amidst the Christmas hampers she is sending out to customers. I ask her if, after years of moving around, she now feels she has finally landed. ‘I don’t know’, she replies. ‘I would still like to go back to France and work in other bakeries, see other perspectives’. ‘But’, she quickly adds, ‘I’m quite rooted here’. Miel, I’m assured, is here to stay.

Want to explore Miel Bakery along with other Fitzrovia independents? Check out this Bimble, where Pablo lists his favourite local eats and drinks.