Artisan bakery Scéal is returning to its origins in Dublin 8 with the planned opening of a new bakery and cafe on South Circular Road in mid-February. The Greystones, Co Wicklow-based business is taking over the cafe space occupied by Little Bird, which will continue to run its yoga studio from the building near Leonard’s Corner.
The expansion comes at a busy time for Scéal, which last month said it would open in Wilton Park, the new city quarter on the Grand Canal between Leeson Street and Baggot Street.
The Dublin 8 opening brings the bakery back to where it was established by Charlotte Leonard-Kane and her now-husband Shane Palmer in 2016, operating from the nearby Fumbally development.
Scéal’s new premises on South Circular Road in Dublin 8.
Ben Leonard-Kane, bakery shareholder and brother of Charlotte, said the team had felt some “guilt” when they subsequently departed Dublin 8 for Co Wicklow, leaving customers behind.
“Dublin 8 played a huge formative role in the early stages of the business,” he said, welcoming the chance to repay customer loyalty with a “mini-homecoming”.
The new operation will have both indoor and outdoor space, with 18 seats inside and six tables under an external awning. It will contain commissioned art by Domino Whisker, whose work also features in Scéal in Greystones, with further work to be commissioned from a Dublin 8 artist.
Emphasising the family nature of the business, Mary Leonard, mother of Ben and Charlotte, will make seat pads for the new outlet from a tweed collection owned by the siblings’ grandmother.
“What’s really important to us is to create an experience,” said Leonard-Kane.