4 min read
From Thursday to Sunday, Sara Assad-Mannings opens the shutters to her small bakery in Herne Hill, South London.
Proudly proclaiming āSourdough buns, Palestinian flavours,ā has gained something of a cult following since its inception during the pandemic.
But now with its first physical store, which opened in May, things have gone to a whole new level.
āLetās gatekeep everything moving forward, but girl itās too late for me,ā Sara jokes, referring to the queues that snake down the street every time Bunhead Bakery opens its doors ā often even before the shop opens.
But Bunheadās story started in lockdown, years before the bakery opened in May.Ģż
āI started selling buns in 2020, driving all around South London to deliver to shops and cafes, selling at markets at the weekends. When I first started, there were Palestinian flavours, but that wasnāt a central focus of the business.āĢż
Starting with five flavours (rose and cardamom, cinnamon, lemon, chocolate malt ā for her Kiwi stepmum ā and the salty bun,) Sara began to play with Palestinian flavours.
Now, a visit to Bunhead Bakery will tantalise you with baklava or taste tahini and grape molasses buns, Kaāak bread and brown butter miso chocolate cookies, something Sara says helped her connect with her Palestinian heritage.
āI always say Bunhead is the truest expression of myself. Those are the flavours that I grew up with. It just happens to now carry a kind of educational purpose or a purpose of bringing Palestine into peopleās hearts.
"Putting āPalestinian flavoursā on the shopfront was very intentional. The photos in the bakery are ones that my dad took in the 80s in the West Bank. Itās so connected to my family history.ā
Sara points out one photograph of a woman holding a picture that her son drew in prison, while others show people in the West Bank whose homes were demolished.
While some have called her declaration of Palestinian identity and solidarity ābrave,ā what means the most to her is homegrown support: āI have the support of so many Palestinians in London and at the end of the day, thatās all I care about.āĢż
Sara, who has mixed Palestinian and British parentage, never hid her roots, but the events of 2023 led to an amplification of her sense of self.
āAs I was introducing more Palestinian flavours and talking more about my familyās history, it became central to the business. People looked to me to educate them, or for someone to support them.āĢż
The popularity of Bunhead Bakery is unsurprising considering how delicious Saraās bakes are (I challenge anyone to make focaccia last longer than one sitting) but the support has intensified.Ģż
āI remember putting out a post on Instagram in October saying it felt disingenuous to post bun content and that Iād spent my life going to Palestine, that I understood the situation and knew what was about to happen.
"That post got so much attention. When people feel helpless, being able to support your business or talk to someone who has family in the area feels like a material way that they can do something.ā
Most of Saraās interactions have been positive (aside from a comment asking her to condemn Hamas,) if surprising that many people had no idea what was happening in the region.Ģż
āI was listening to a song that said being Palestinian, youāre underpaid life teachers and overpaid leaders. Palestine has some of the highest literacy rates in the Arab world, and so much of that is because itās taught to Palestinians that you have to fight for your right to exist," she tellsĢż°®Āžµŗ.Ģż
"You understand from a very early age that you have to be resilient and stronger, so when Palestine was catapulted into the world, there were Palestinians around the world who felt like it was our time to seize this opportunity to keep the cause alive and keep our people alive.ā
Sara says this sense lay somewhat dormant in her until she realised that it was part of her lifeās purpose, something Sara is conscious never comes across as inauthentic.Ģż
āIāve spoken about my story and subtly tried to make clear that Iāve been doing this for four years. We put the offer in for the shop in September last year. This isnāt capitalising on what happened.
"Itās gross to say that itās an amazing time to open a Palestinian business, but itās a moment where people want to feel like theyāre doing something. Iām always very intentional about giving back,ā she adds, referencing a recent fundraiser for projects providing direct and essential aid for people on the ground.
While Sara might only snatch a second to connect face-to-face with customers while she and co-founder Georgia Wickremeratne hustle to keep the queue moving, two things are for sure ā you wonāt leave Bunhead hungry, and youāll definitely be coming back for more.
Isabella Silvers isĢża multi-award-winning editor and journalist, having written for Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, Refinery 29 and more. She also writes a weekly newsletter on mixed-race identity, titled Mixed Messages
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