Jenny of Izola chooses creativity over comfort
Jenny Chen, co-owner of Izola Bakery in East Village, San Diego, Calif.
Take two flights of stairs up an unassuming industrial building, follow the signs and whiffs of freshly baked bread, enter the large black double doors and there you’ll find it: Izola. Located in the East Village neighborhood of San Diego, this bakery serves its guests irresistible croissants, pastries and sourdough bread.
During the pandemic, Izola was popularly known as the bakery that would lower a basket from their second floor window to deliver you your fresh baked bread! Inside, however, is where I first met Jenny Chen, co-owner of Izola with her business and life partner, Jeffrey Lamont Brown. Jenny was rhythmically lifting and shifting cast iron pots in and atop the stove to bake Izola’s signature sourdough breads—her muscular arms defying any notion you might have of her 5 foot, 100 pound frame.
A couple of days later, there I was with Jenny in the quiet afternoon, hanging out after the morning rush of endless croissants and cappuccino orders, chatting about how she came to co-create Izola and what her creative process is like.
An appreciation for food always begins early
Jenny’s appreciation for food began as most love affairs with food begin—with family gatherings full of food and loud chatter all around. Her family would eat at Shanghainese and Taiwanese restaurants where circular platforms in the middle of the table would display an array of meats, veggies, and stews.
Food was always there; so was bread. Jenny loved baking as she was growing up in her parent’s home, even if it meant getting flour all over the counters.
Now as co-owner of Izola, Jenny is still getting the dough on the counters, but this time in a more measured way.
On being a corporate professional and creative entrepreneur
By day, Jenny is a corporate professional working as a retail merchandiser with clients spanning Fortune 500 companies. She has been pricing trendy products for the last 15 years. One part of her role is forecasting how many products of a particular item, let’s say apparel, will sell to consumers.
Now Jenny is forecasting food products for Izola. This is also what sets Izola apart from other bakeries—its approach to freshness without dealing with excess.
Unlike other bakeries that bake all through the night only to turn their oven off in the morning, Izola is baking based on the volume of their pre-orders and the anticipation of walk-ins. Jenny and Jeffrey are taking stock of the size of their walk-in crowd and using those numbers to estimate how much there is to bake, so little is wasted in the end.
So when you’re enjoying a pastry at Izola, it hasn’t been sitting in a pretty glass case only to be re-heated. It’s instead coming straight out of the oven.
On stepping away from comfort zones
Jenny likens her partnership with life and business partner Jeffrey to rock climbing: the two must communicate their every move with one another to ensure a smooth, safe and enjoyable climb. They must count on one another to ensure the success of their life and business together.
When it comes to just Jenny, she pushes herself to step away from her own comfort zones. Retail merchandising to Jenny is safe, baking on the other hand, interestingly, is not.
Comfort for Jenny also lies in serving others, not being the center of attention. This interview for example, was something she initially thought Jeffrey would be better suited for. She then happily obliged to be interviewed instead.
On stepping into the creative zone instead
Jenny’s mind is on bread baking process above all other matters when she’s in the bakery kitchen. "Baking is a technical process. It's all about its measurements, thickness and temperature," said Jenny. Staying calm and focused, according to her, is what comes out in the food in the end.
When it’s time to step away from assessing the readiness of the breads in the kitchen, Jenny is downstairs weaving in and out of the crowd, bearing both a smile and a silver tray, delivering an order to a customer’s table. This is what “the trifecta” Jenny and Izola see as their North Star: providing a space for all people to gather, eat, and be in a positive environment.
In fact, Jeffrey notes that it’s her optimism and care towards the customers that makes—and is making—Izola a favorite bakery among customers.
Jenny and Jeffrey, founders and owners of Izola Bakery
Izola Bakery in your neighborhood
Izola is looking to move into a commercial kitchen to distribute their baked goods to local restaurants. Jenny also wants to be on the ground floor, where people passing by can easily grab a pastry and be on their way.
We may not know who our neighbors are, especially in the past year we’ve all been stuck at home, but Izola is a place to slow down our hurried disjointed lives together and come together. What better way to do so than to rip a part a warm baked good?
When I asked Jenny what entrepreneurship means to her, she said, “Entrepreneurship is creating something for ourselves.” Thankfully for the rest of us, we get to enjoy what buttery, flaky and sophisticated pastry or bread Izola is creating Wednesdays - Fridays from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
