Right in front of you is an elegant shop window trimmed in dark blue, with “Fitzbillies” written in gold and the number 51. There’s usually a little black chalkboard sign by the entrance, practically winking at the street.
Now, Fitzbillies isn’t just any bakery. This is Cambridge’s headquarters for the famously indulgent Chelsea bun: a soft, spiral sweet roll packed with sugar and cinnamon, sticky with syrup, and determined to ruin your willpower. It all kicks off in 1920, when the smell from this doorway lured in hungry students and curious professors alike.
And this place has had more plot twists than a soap opera: bankrupt twice, in 1980 and 2011, plus a fire that shut it down for two whole years in 1998. In 2011, when it looked finished, Stephen Fry rallied support and persuaded food writer Tim Hayward to save it. Result: Fitzbillies rose again and now has three locations. Honestly, it’s hard not to “accidentally” buy two buns. Shall we go in?
