Four-Time James Beard Nominated Pastry Chef Tova du Plessis is Expanding Essen Bakery to Norris Square
Tova du Plessis, the four-time James Beard nominated pastry chef who opened Essen Bakery in East Passyunk back in 2016, is expanding her business with a second location. Tova recently signed a lease to a new space at 110 West Berks Street (at the corner of Berks and Hope Streets) in Norris Square.
The spacious new Essen Bakery, which will be known as “Essen North” (with the Passyunk location now being dubbed “Essen South”), will be 2,800 square feet with ample room for indoor dining, significantly larger than the original location which now operates only as a takeout window with outdoor seating. Tova is eyeing a late spring opening for Essen North.
“I call Essen ‘A little Jewish bakery in South Philly,’ and I’m so excited to open a not-so-little Jewish bakery in North Philly,” said Tova. “It’s been a long road to find the right space, get the lease signed, and make sure I’m ready to expand the business, and I’m very confident that the neighborhood will welcome this new location in with open arms.”
Essen is most well-known for its famous Chocolate Halva Babka, which has a cult following and ships nationwide. In addition to the best-selling babka, Essen offers assorted bagels, ½ pints of assorted flavors of schmears, lox and bagel fixings, challah bread, black-and-white cookies, salted chocolate chip cookies, croissants, seasonal fruit Danishes, seasonal pop tarts, apple cake slices, whole Jewish apple cakes, chocolate rugelach, Basque cheesecake, caramelized onion focaccia, cinnamon buns, homemade ricotta, seasonal jams, and more. Essen also offers holiday specials throughout the year, as well as catering, and they use freshly roasted coffee beans from Elixr Coffee for all their coffee beverages. Alongside Tova’s well-known baked goods, Essen Bakery North will have a serious focus on bagels, while also offering espresso, breakfast sandwiches, and house-made sandwiches for lunch. Additionally, Tova is currently working with Elixr to develop Essen’s own signature coffee blend.
“The goal is to make Essen North more than just your standard bakery, and more of a sit-down café and restaurant where people can come for breakfast or lunch or to do some work.” said Tova.
After years of working in some of America’s most iconic restaurants, Tova decided to return to her own roots when she opened her first bakery. She gained inspiration from the freshly baked bread and pastries that she would make alongside her mother as a child, and her food reflects her South African and Jewish heritage, while being heavily influenced by her technical training. In 2019, StarChefs named Tova Philadelphia’s Rising Star Chef. The James Beard Foundation named du Plessis a semifinalist for Outstanding Baker in America every year from 2017-2020.
