After inspiring countless queues in Hackney and Leytonstone, Forno has expanded along the Regent’s Canal with two new spaces inside the historic Ragged School Museum, a 19th-century free school for the children of Mile End.
Best known for helping to popularise Rome’s fluffy, cream-filled maritozzi in London, the Italian bakery – an offshoot of pasta restaurant Ombra – first opened on Andrews Road in 2023, with its Church Lane outpost following earlier this year. This latest expansion includes an all-day cafe and a separate takeaway hatch serving coffee and pastries to passersby on the towpath.
Designed in collaboration with Dan Wilson Studio (which has worked on projects for Browns East boutique, Quince Bakery and 3.1 Phillip Lim) to show off its canal views as well as the building’s rich heritage elements, the bright, understated cafe marks a new direction for Forno. It has an emphasis on light daytime dishes designed for lingering over rather than eating on the run.
“The cafe has a pretty well-equipped kitchen, which would be a shame to not use to its full potential,” Ombra chef and co-owner Mitshel Ibrahim tells Broadsheet. The menu, led by head chef Jenny Spruell (ex-Ombra, 64 Goodge Street and Angelina), leans Italian but not exclusively so. “Jenny’s basically an honorary Italian at this point,” Ibrahim says. “She is married to one, has been to Italy a bunch and eats pasta like it’s calorie-free.”
Breakfast dishes include ve’duja (vegan n’duja) baked eggs with pickled fennel; fennel sausage with fried egg, romesco and chard focaccia; and sumac-roasted plums with granola and yoghurt. From midday, there’s ribollita (Tuscan bread soup); chicken Milanese with celeriac remoulade; and spiced monkfish with black lentils, cucumber and yoghurt; plus seasonal salads and handmade pasta.
Meanwhile, the canalside kiosk, set within the Ragged School’s former conference room, focuses on Forno’s signature viennoiserie – maritozzi, gianduja buns, cornetti and olive-oil cake – alongside espresso and filter coffee, teas and Italian soft drinks.
Aperitivo service may follow on the weekends, but for now, “Supporting a landmark institution dedicated to community and heritage feels right for us,” says Ibrahim. “It’s very east London in the best way.”
Forno Ragged Cafe
46–50 Copperfield Road, Mile End, E3 4RR
Hours:
Cafe
Thu & Fri 8am–4pm
Sat & Sun 9am–4pm
Kiosk
Daily 8am–4pm
