How does it work?

1. Login to see the Order Book which is a list of all products currently available, you can search from this list.
2. Add items to your Cart.
3. Under the Orders Tab in your app you can see your Cart and your previous orders under Track
4. Checkout and pay with a credit or debit card.
5. You will receive an email confirmation of your order

Where’s my order?
All produce is coming directly from the supplier, and most of the time, through courier companies. We love them, they get produce from a farm in Devon, straight to a household in the middle of nowhere — but they can also cause our suppliers and community a large headache! They mean we can’t confirm an exact delivery time. But, if you haven’t received your order by 3pm on the stated delivery date, get in touch with the supplier you ordered from, you’ll find their details in your supplier confirmation email. Failing that, we’re here to help. Please contact us on 07710649826 & email us on help@joinfoodchain.com

Need a refund?
Please contact us on 07710649826 & email us on help@joinfoodchain.com

Product requests
We’re constantly updating what’s available from our network of producers. We’d love to hear from you about what you’d like us to have available. Please email us with a request!

Get Excited: Small British Producers, Delivered to your Home. was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Probably because that small part of your experience could cost the restaurant upwards of £50 K a year*, and with restaurants already struggling with extortionate rents; is that really worth it?

More and more, we see specialist coffee laboratories promoting ‘single origin’ beans, appearing all over our high streets. Coffee beans have “notes of Morello cherry” and “September plums” and restaurants too, are being questioned and challenged about the quality of their coffee.

Why making specialty the right way is so challenging

‘Specialty coffee’ is a broad term considering the whole journey that single origin coffee beans make, from farmer to cup. “Old Spike is about specialty, delicious coffee at a price which is competitive.” Richard Robinson, founder of Old-Spike says.

But specialty coffee needs to be prepared correctly. It isn’t so easy a process as you’d think.

Coffee making is expensive. As James Low (not James Lowe, Head Chef but James Low Head of Coffee) at Lyle’s explains, any good coffee is broken up into four main components; ¼ of it is the beans, ¼ the machine, ¼ the grinder and ¼ the barista. According to James, “All four of those elements coming together results in a good coffee — and that’s ignoring the need for good filtered water.” Lyle’s is one of the restaurants which have justified this expense, who as well as serving Michelin starred food, are known to have some of the best coffee in London, competing with some of the finest coffee shops around.

But grinders are expensive, La Marzocco machines can cost over 15k, how do restaurants, who already have huge overheads and start-up costs, justify investing in this supplementary part of their offering?

Coffee can become a point of difference for the restaurant, this makes your investment worth it. Lyle’s open from 8am as a coffee shop to make gains from this offering outside of service times.

But not all restaurants have the capacity, location or ‘feel’ to get away with becoming an all-day-café-come-restaurant. What then?

James believes the answer lies in black: “What I try and encourage restaurants to do is just black coffee… which is hugely controversial. Duck Soup do one simple pour-over coffee, maybe a decaff too. They just have a good grinder, a little kettle and a decent water filter. If someone asks for an espresso they say ‘we only do black coffee, it’s a drip, it’s from this farm. It’s all we’ve got but it’s going to be good’. It’s how you present it. You need confidence and how you display it is hugely important”

Aizle, the exciting produce-led restaurant in Edinburgh joins the likes of Noma and The Clove Club in doing exactly this: presenting their drip coffee with a card explaining the tasting notes.

The reality is, this controversial decision of just serving black filter coffee has to be owned and celebrated by the restaurant. Restaurants need to stick to their guns, and rely on consumer consciousness and staff attentiveness.

The answer is not simple, nevertheless, we’ve tried to break down your options below.

1) Switch to quality beans. Work with companies like Old Spike Roastery — who are dedicated to making amazing coffee, and creating positive social changes along the way. There’s no need to spend a lot on expensive equipment. Start stimple with good beans. It’s one small step in the right direction, even if you haven’t worked out where you stand on the coffee debate.

2) Make coffee a priority. Match your specialty coffee offering to the dedication you show in curating your wine list. Get the full equipment and look into selling coffee throughout the day to make the most out of your point of difference.

3) Reduce your room for error and serve drip coffee — black. You may piss off the odd customer who once went to Florence on holiday ordering ‘expresso’, but if they’re enough of a coffee addict they won’t care.

Foodchain are connecting their community of chefs to Old Spike Roastery through their platform. If you already are a chef click here to order, or get in touch to arrange a sample.

If you don’t currently work with Foodchain, get in touch here to get a quote on your food supply.

Confused? Get in touch with Coffee James Low for a consultancy service.

*Espresso machines (starting from) £4k+/water filtration £200+/grinder(s) £1100+ before you’ve made a coffee… (and that just attracts the most vein barista to come aboard) Not to mention staff training when the bartender is more interested in making a cocktail, a pourover or an immersion brew is ‘another’ task, and maybe one thats not easy to dedicate oneself to.

Finding a balance: what is a restaurant’s response to the rise of specialty coffee? was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Upon first appearance, when driving up to Todenham Manor Farm with your wellies in tow, you think you’ve fallen upon the wrong place. Trees neatly line a long clean drive. Pretty painted signs you’d expect to find in the gift section of Waitrose indicate a ‘butchery’. Not a leaf in site, hardly any mud — surely this can’t be a farm?

Irayne, owner of the farm, is clearly used to having this commented upon. Smiling she tells us of visitors stumbling on a stable with a bit of dirt on it and commenting “at last, a bit of shit.” Our ideas of what a farm should look like, scruffy and scummy, are completely disappointed at Todenham Manor Farm. However, our ideas need to change, because this incredibly well-kept farm results in some incredibly delicious produce.

It’s her background which gives the farm its edge; their produce has a superiority you simply can’t get by being scruffy. Born and raised in London, Irayne couldn’t have been more foreign to farming. However, on a mission to clean up some woodland in the gardens of her new home in the Cotswolds, she bought three pigs.

“I went on the internet and googled pig breeds”

“I went on the internet and googled pig breeds” Irayne went for the local Gloucester old spot, a middle white & a Berkshire which turned into the 400 or so she has today.

“I loved it, I loved them; but when the time it came for them to be slaughtered, I realised my first big error: I had named the pigs.” Irayne laughed. It seems that the taste of the big bag of sausages which followed helped her overlook this love.

Soon Irayne had acquired some pedigree South Devon and Angus cattle and her journey continued into the realm of beef. In no time, her building of a butchery and partnership with a butcher would make demand for her product sky rocket and help her achieve accolades from Chef’s such as Tom Aikens who called her fillet “truly outstanding, Juicy & moist.”

“Truly outstanding, Juicy & moist.”

Chef Tom Aikens on Todenham Manor Farm’s Fillet.

Welfare

Their pigs:

For when it gets hot in the summer, they have dug pools of water for bathing and planted fruit trees for shade (with the added bonus of making a crunchy sweet snack for them).
They live outdoors all year so that they can root and forage.

Their cattle.
During the summer months, the cattle graze on the pastures surrounding the farm. During the winter, cows can’t be left without shelter so they come into the barns. Irayne pushed planning permission for these stables to have extra high ceilings and open walls to the outdoors, making sure there was ample room for sunlight to get in. They feed on a home-grown mix of silage and cereals.

From Scratch

Iraynes care for her animals fed a dedication to respecting the next part of their journey. She found a local abattoir three miles away and she taught herself butchery: “I wanted to do everything from scratch, from feeding the animals to grinding my own spices for sausages.”

“I wanted to do everything from scratch, from feeding the animals to grinding my own spices for sausages.”

Before farming, Irayne used to be a caterer. This focus around flavour allowed her to approach farming from a different angle. Without years of traditions and techniques drummed into her, Irayne had to look at what made great taste (And in their case, many Great Taste Awards!); it seems her way of farming, with love, care and a well-groomed farmyard, is the best technique there is out there.

The farm now have a butchery, drying-aging room and most importantly… an expert: Wayne Standley trained as a retail butcher and has worked previously as a meat and livestock grader. His experience allows the aging and processing of the high quality meat to be respected and maintained from field to fork.

Visiting the farm

Foodchain spent four hours visiting the stunning farm of Todenham Manor. Welcomed by the warmth of Wayne and Irayne, we were captivated by their passion for their livestock and then the care of their produce before it reaches the customer. Their consistency of cleanliness got us into hairnets and overalls. Like a good chef keeps their kitchen, they keep their butchery: immaculate.

While Irayne has given up naming her pigs, her love still remains (even her ring-tone which interrupted our conversation was a soundtrack of pigs “oinking”), and this is shown in what they produce.

Even her ring-tone which interrupted our conversation was a soundtrack of pigs “oinking”

We tried a perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned sirloin; such tenderness and juiciness requires no condiments. They dry age their beef for a minimum of 28 days and the flavour which this encourages was evident in every mouthful — such savouriness, some sweetness — a touch of bitterness.

Following this came an onslaught of sausages: Black pudding, chorizo, and “nicely spiced” varieties of sausage were fried up in their tiny kitchen, and chopped up for us to taste. Next level.

They gave us a goodie bag to take home. In this we had some of their cured bacon, which we sizzled the next morning into crispy, fatty perfection.

Their dedication is outstanding, quality even more so. Any chef would be a fool not to try and feature them on their menu.

We’ll be organising a day down to the farm for you to meet them both, see the operation (including their EPIC dry-aging room) and have a butchery course. If you are interested in coming along, email Amelia here.

Meet the cook and butcher who took on a Cotswold farm. was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

After working in restaurants across the globe, living in Mexico, Spain and Copenhagen, Mexican born chef Santiago Lastra has finally decided to open his own place; and he’s settled for the big smoke.

Why London?

“I wanted to choose a place where I love the guests, I love cooking for Londoners” Santiago tells me.

A city full of broke, unfriendly pasty people who are constantly stressed is apparently desirable.

“In London you have different spark in the way that you enjoy food — not so rooted in tradition. Londoners are fun, open people from all around the world”

Where a lack of tradition in food makes us the perfect audience, tradition is exactly what drives his food. “It’s round and very fatty and spicy — it’s made with the heart, this is the source of it all. We don’t use techniques, it’s about tradition — feeling, feeling, feeling.”

“Mexico: you eat and you cry there, the food is very intense”

The last few years has seen a boom of Mexican cuisine in London. Breddos tacos, El Pastor and Corazon have brought the Mexican joints to the top of peoples hit-lists. Breddos was just a shack on the street a few years back, now they’re opening their third bricks-and-mortar site.

For Santiago, British seasonality is not a challenge, but an opportunity. “You can season seasonality. You have this amazing lamb [Santiago is using lamb from Maerdy farm in Wales, sourced via Foodchain] you slow cook it and dress it with Mexican spices –the sauce isn’t made from fruits from Mexico but with figs, berries or quince.” He explains further. “Mole is a concept. When you are living in a place which has bananas, you put the bananas in the mole. You work with your environment, [in the UK] there is seaweed, so you add that to the mole instead.”

His dedication to British seasonality and ingredients has become his new obsession and occupation. “Right now I am just travelling around England, Scotland and Wales to find ingredients. I want to create a way to work with producers which is more sustainable, that’s why I am so happy to have found Foodchain”

His style is not only produce-led, but provenance-led. Foodchain seeks to drive engagement and understanding between chef and producer. Santiago came on our most recent trip to Wales to meet an array of producers, from rare breed pig farmers to artisan cheesemakers; these producers he now advocates for and is using on his menus. To read more about this trip click here

So what will his restaurant look like? Open kitchen. Central London, 50 covers. He wants shared main courses. It’ll be more high-end than the current Mexican offering in London and for design Santiago will be working with British craftsmen using Mexican colourways. He’ll be serving dishes like ‘Salt baked Welsh lamb shoulder with borracha sauce, roasted and pickled seasonal vegetables and tortillas made with Scottish grains,’ Mezca, tequila and Mexican coffee. Can’t wait? Well lucky for you he’s going to be serving up a feast at Carousel between 13–24th of February so you don’t have to. Click here to book.

Interested in hearing more about Foodchain for your own restaurant supply? Get in touch.

www.joinfoodchain.com

Santiago Lastra: The ever nomadic (and ex-Noma) chef who has chosen London was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

However, contrary to popular perception, this man is as lovely and warm as slow cooked rabbit casserole, served with homemade sourdough and gobbled up by a fire. He doesn’t even use a gun. As they are all dispatched by hand (a method called chining which limits suffering and kills them instantly).

Andrew prevents the overpopulation of rabbits of three estates set in the stunning Yorkshire Dales.

“I’ve been rabbiting all my life, I’ve done it as a hobby since I was 14” Andrew tells me. He doesn’t shoot the rabbits, but rather guides them into long nets using ferrets and dogs. He tries to minimise the bruising where possible: “I’ll tell the lads to gut them straight away so no acids build up in the stomach. We’ll then hang them so they’re kept fresh — they’re respected, not knocked about.”

Previously selling to butchers, wholesalers and old age pensioners, he heard about us through Carwyn of Maerdy farm and decided that in order to pursue his dream of making rabbitting full-time he wanted to go direct to chefs instead through Foodchain.

The building industry’s loss, is the hospitality industry’s gain. For if you want to pull the rabbit out of the hat in a dish this January— Andrew could be your golden ticket.

Rabbit is wild and hormone free. They’ve had a good life and should be on more of London’s menus. Andrew is happy to give any chef a run around the Yorkshire Dales with him if they want to learn more about the lives of their produce and the rabbiters!

Andrew the Rabbit Man was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Is “Veganuary” your New Year’s resolution? Sack off veggie-pret and sad tofu, here’s how to do it properly.

When it comes to cutting out meat from your menu, you need to make sure that the main ingredients of your dish are of the highest, freshest quality. All of these restaurants use Foodchain to source their produce.

1. Minnow Clapham

This charming neighbourhood joint a few doors down from The Dairy serves up beautiful, seasonal food with vegan dishes good enough to convince any meat-eater. Chef Jake Boyce balances each dish beautifully in colour and texture and taste, showcasing the very best of british seasonal produce.

2. Foleys, Fitzrovia

Head Chef Budgie Montoya has made his whole January menu at Foleys Vegetarian. It will have several nods to asia with dishes such as Celeriac “Bang Bang noodles.”
He’s using spices and the flavour spectrum of the east to bring in the punch which some feel is taken away when meat or fish is removed from a dish. We really reccomend going before the menu changes in Feb!

3. The Camberwell Arms

Head Chef Michael Davies is a huge advocate for vegan food and living. He manages to present his loyal pub clientele with enough flavour in his vegan dishes to convert any regular of the roast.

4. Tredwells

“When we opened Tredwells, I wanted to have a good proportion of plant-based options on the menu. I think it makes the dining experience much more enjoyable when you can cater to most diets, without the guests having to mention their needs.” Chantelle Nicholson

Tredwells has a number of vegan dishes available and also regulary runs supper clubs under the title “planted” showcasing the very best of vegan cooking.

5. Blanchette

Blanchette has two sites where you can try their vegan dishes (Bricklane & Soho). Their Head Chef, Tam Storrar shows how the french fundamentals of butter and cream don’t need to be used in every creation.

“I try to make garnishes that can be turned into vegan options when we need them, for example, I have a swordfish dish and the garnish is a chickpea and winter green tagine — so, it’s available whenever I need it” Tam Storrar

Are you a chef with views on the rise of veganism? We want to hear from you for our next blog post! Please email us if you would like to contribute.

Interested in hearing more about Foodchain? Click here to hear from one of our team

Where to eat Vegan in London. was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It comes out, and you tell yourself a little sliverwon’t hurt, and after all — how often do you get offered a cheeseboard? Next thing you know, you’re bound to your chair, mumbling things to your relative about pain, regret.

They signify overindulgence. They represent the comfort you feel in your surroundings by permitting this coma of camembert. Christmas is all about the cheeseboards.

So what’s on your cheeseboard- Brie de Meaux, Roquefort? At a time of appreciation for your family, for your roots, we need to also appreciate our local roots , by opting for British cheese.

However, a recent encounter with an (anonymous) restaurant became rather heated at the mention of this:

“No, just no”

The sommelier of this one Michelin starred restaurant claimed,

“The French are the best, I don’t care what you are trying to sell me, we will always have a French cheeseboard.”

You see, after a recent visit to Caws Cenarth’s farm in Wales, — I began to wonder why anyone would buy across the border. There is a growing breed of innovative British producers who have not only learned from the French, but are challenging them now too.

On the recent Foodchain Welsh Trip, we took 14 of London’s chefs to visit Caws Cenarth farm. Pottering down a Welsh country lane we were greeted by the charming Carwyn Mort, who has won so many awards that he has a little shelving unit dedicated to them all.

Carwyn Mort was born on a dairy farm. During the 1980’s, milk quotas saw the price of milk drastically drop , until it was cheaper than water. How fortuitous for them, as from this situation Thelma (Carwyn’s mother) began to make cheese; and began with Caerphilly.

This cheese is a buttery and mellow; it crumbles easily with a tang of Lemon. Caws Cenarth’s Caerphilly is the oldest in Wales. All of their cheeses have this Caerphilly recipe at their core, the cheese which the Welsh miners used to have in their sandwiches for lunch.

Their business is still truly family run “We get all of the milk from my dad’s first cousin. It’s organic”, Carwyn tells us.

“We try to focus on quality, so customers always come back. It’s easier to market things which taste good.”

They also do blues, bries and sell chutneys made by their next door neighbour. “I want to make something which no-one else makes, something a little different” Carwyn tells us. It’s true, we get to try them all and each cheese is very unique yet familiar. They vary from intense blue, sheep’s milk cheeses to soft mellow oozing cheeses. You can curate a whole cheeseboard from their offering alone. So, why wouldn’t you? After all, if you are going to end up in a cheese coma, get yourself into a British cheese coma.

If you want to order some of their cheeses, go direct to them today. Save money, support British producers and get to eat delicious cheeses. Foodchain can also connect you with Blackwood’s Cheese, Kappacasein and Kupros Dairy.

Click here to contact Foodchain and make an order.

Perl Las Best Blue & Home International Winner International Cheese Awards Nantwich
Perl Las is unlike any other blue cheese, strong but delicate, creamy with lovely lingering blue overtones.

Perl Wen Looks like Brie. Behaves like Brie…….but! Gold Medal Yorkshire Show
This modern Welsh cheese has the fresh citrus but creamy flavour of Caerffili with an underlying hint of sea salt……. very more-ish!

Golden Cenarth Supreme Champion at the British Cheese Awards
This semi-soft cheese is washed in cider and develops a pungent savoury flavour with a nutty aftertaste. Comes in a special wooded crate and is Ready to Eat or Ready to Bake!

Thelma’s Original Caerffili Reserve Champion Royal Welsh 2016
A Welsh Classic, crafted to perfection. As traditional today as when it was made by Carwyn’s Great Great Grandmothers Lizzie Wyn and Leisa Jones. Mild fresh creamy cheese with a lemony flavour and a hint of underlying sea salt.

Cenarth Brie A Traditional French Style Cheese
Cenarth Brie develops distinctive mushroomy and cabbagy aromas and flavours as it softens and matures.

Why you should ditch the brie and opt for a British cheeseboard this christmas. was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Members clubs are strange places; taking a walk around Mayfair you probably will come across one on every street. Mysteriously grand and mysteriously guarded. If you peer into their wood-panelled restaurants you’ll expect to see grey-haired men spooning creamed asparagus soups and ordering another whisky to help wash down the food. However, this stereotype is being slowly dismantled: take a glance into the butterfly panelled restaurant which services Chess Club London and you’ll see a very different affair. A room full of fashionable —and certainly successful — Londoners feasting on the season’s best ingredients produced by some seriously impressive chefs. The head chef I am meeting: Scot Paterson.

Members clubs are a difficult thing to cater for, members are already paying to be inside your walls. “We don’t want to overcharge them” says Scot to me, sitting next to the clubs beautifully carved chess board (how appropriate), “Sometimes the food is second to the reason why they come to the club; it’s our job to do the best sourcing possible and be as creative as we can.”

Simplicity is important. Members eat regularly so you need to have some un-fussy dishes to cater for their mid-week desires. Scot has re-imagined classic dishes and refined them to be something utterly familiar yet beyond superior to the plate you can cook at home: “My view is that if you’re going to do something simple, it needs to be sharp, elegant and taste amazing,” He says highlighting his chicken paillard dish as an example; butterflied chicken breast with a miso chicken sauce, ginger pickles and daikon with chives and spring onions. “it sounds really simple,” says Scot, “but the miso chicken sauce takes about four days to make, it’s so intense that you only need a tiny drop of it…

…If we are going to make dishes that [members] can already make at home, we need to wow them with it.”

Scots articulation of his method was intricate, detailed and specific; years of work as a chef in restaurants such as Galvin La Chapelle & Dukes Hotel have clearly taught him well. “I’d never thought of doing clubs before in my career, I see them as food machines.” Scot tells me,

“but The Chess Club is different, it’s a food-led members club.”

Scot began his career near Newcastle and fostered a love of farm-to-table cooking from working at Matfen Hall. This big country house had a kitchen garden, woods filled with wild garlic to forage and organic clover fed lambs reared in its backyard.

Jackson Boxer is the chef-patron of both the club and Brunswick House (with Andrew Clarke). He has made the values of seasonality, organic and British produce integral to the menus of both sites. “Jackson can talk for hours and hours about food,” Scot says. I can confirm this, having met him a week earlier I was astounded in his wisdom of food in its complete journey, from the seed to the kitchen; he spoke eloquently about the gains made by biodynamic and polycultural farming and the desire to find (Foodchain will be helping him with this) more producers who adopt these methods.

I ate at Chess Club last week and I really observed the rewards that a combination of attention to sourcing and the work of top chefs offer: bloody good food. I had fillet of cod, cooked to perfection, served with the last of this seasons girolles and bathed in a crab and heritage sweetcorn bisque.

It was the dessert, however, where Chess Club’s chefs really impressed: Pumpkin and gingerbread tart served with hazelnut nougatine and mandarin sorbet. The design of the plate was sophisticated without being pompous, the flavour of the tart earthy and soft yet with a crunch and sweetness. In fact, it could have all been too much if it weren’t for the the sharpness of the mandarin sorbet to cut through it all and, well, make it sublime.

There has been an enslaught of ‘trendy’ members clubs in the last decade: The Curtain, The Ned and Alberts to name a few. All are exclusive and expensive, and The Chess Club is no exception. However, being in the hands of Scot, Jackson and their team of talent will make this expense justifiable for anyone with an interest in quality dining.

The Chess Club uses Foodchain to get access to the best seasonal ingredients, direct from source. Chef or restaurant owner in the UK? Fill out the enquiry form on our website to get a quote on your food supply.
www.joinfoodchain.com

Chef Details

Scot Paterson, Head Chef(@Scotpatersonchef)

Tom Childs, Sous chef of Chess Club (@tomfromkent). Tom also runs The Hygge Club (yet this club is not exclusive, so snap up your tickets for their next event here: https://grubclub.com/the-hygge-club)

Jackson Boxer, Chef Patron of Brunswick House & Chess Club London (@jacksonboxer)

Chess Club | Private Members Club | Private Dining

Finally a food-led members club? An interview with Scot Paterson of Chess Club London. was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Leaving the hustle and bustle of Peckham Rye station, it would be easy to rush past Coalrooms. It would be a great shame if you did though.

Set in the old ticket office, the restaurant is a wonder of a site. Cool, simple, clean interiors on the inside; smoky, mysterious and rich aromas from the kitchen — what a winning combination.

I’m meeting Sam Bryant on a Friday afternoon, nearly two months since he launched. TimeOut’s Tom Howells said this week that he could “wax rapturous about every one of the meticulous dishes” Sam puts together.

Sam is Norfolk born, now living in London and as demonstrated by the words above, causing some smoke with his sh** hot smallplates.

Awesome site you have here… (you’ll see why when you visit yourself)

Yeah, people come in and just wander round like it’s an art gallery here. There was a guide last weekend who brought in a whole group — about 20 people on a Sunday; just to visit our toilets [the toilets are Victorian wonders. They’re grade II listed so take up a good 20% of the restaurants squarefootage].

You’re flatmates with the head chef of Temper Soho, so is coal-led cooking and smoking your sweetspot?

Yes, since I came to London, it’s all i’ve worked with; there was Smokehouse and Princess [of Shoreditch]. Here we’ve got little oven in the corner, and then some hobs, but nothing big enough to cook the quantity of meat we send out. So, we have to be really good at cooking stuff on the grill, on the smoker; it’s all about being organised.

How often do you change your menu?

There is no fixed stucture, we get bored so we change things all the time.

What drives you when you make that change?

A lot of our suppliers, like Foodchain, put a list of stuff out when they get it in. Our butcher tells us he’s got something, we’ll take that and work with it. Because we do all of the butchering on-site we can then work out how we will break each meat down for the menu.

Sam renders down all of the fat he gets from animals to minimise his use of dairy since the prices have driven. If you want to hear more read our article Why butter prices are so high?

Does this help you design your menu?

The whole menu is designed around people coming in, picking two or three things and sharing it. We’re not trying to be shirt-y, I just wanted to create a menu where people struggle to pick one thing from it.

Mission accomplished it seems! What have people shouted about the most?

The goat, especially being in Peckham with the African community. Most people who come here have never had goat — its usually that tiny stringy stuff that’s really tough. People expect scrawny things with no meat on them but we are getting in huge beasts. Everything has been so well received;

We thought we would have to change, there would be stuff we’d have to tweak. But people have just accepted that this is what we are doing, and they like it.

And you’re open for breakfast?

We do the bacon sandwich in the morning which people have really liked. We got ‘Best bacon sandwich in London’ a few weeks ago. We get whole slabs of bacon, cure it with coffee from Spike & Earl and treacle — we then slow roast them overnight, it’s served like a carvery. You pick whether you want back or streaky, we serve it up in a homemade bun with homemade brown sauce and ketchup.

What do you think of the dining scene in Peckham?

Peckham’s really up and coming, it’s such a diverse area. You’ve got a massive African and Asian population and now it’s one of the most desired places for working professionals. You are driven by price, people won’t pay as much. But VooDoo Rays opened a week ago, Soho house have just taken a property; you know a place is really starting to change when Soho House buys a property.

Do you like it?

Well I’m from Norfolk where the pub scene is so important –people come every night unlike habits in London. We’ve tried to recreate that here like it’s a project for the community; That’s why we’ve got nod’s to asia and we use jerk quite a bit.

We’re not just in Peckham and are gonna ruin it, we’ve got to embrace what’s already here.

The owner is Peckham born and bred so they’re very respectful of its heritage.

What’s your favourite ingredient this season?

Well it’s got to be game, doesn’t it?

And cut?

Pig’s head. Pitt cue do half a roast pigs head for people to share — it’s f**king amazing. We get it in here and make smoked black pudding from it, my favourite dish on the menu actually.

Best meal this year?

Ynishir Hall Wales. The best thing I had was this beef fat fudge with crackling — it was incredible.

What do you cook in your spare time at home?

Always a chicken curry, on a Sunday night.

What’s your favourite place to drink?

Southampton Arms near Kentish town. It’s a proper dirty old mans pub, 15 real ales on tap, two carbonated and maybe 10 ciders. They only take cash. All the regulars have their own seats. There are proper glasses & mugs — a really great pub.

Do you think that Michelin stars matter anymore?

I don’t, I think it’s an old school thing. It just doesn’t bother me, I can’t be arsed with the pressure. My favourite place in London is Black Axe Mangal, I’d way prefer to eat there than one of the fancy one or two starred places.

It’s really nice having good reviews, but at the end of the day we are a neighbourhood restaurant. They’re gonna come once, write about it. We are not a destination restaurant, we are the place that we want people to come to in the middle of the week and we are going to change the menu so they come back accordingly.

What do you like about Foodchain?

We take a lot via Foodchain, we get in the Coalpit pork, all the fish, Dairy from Kappacasein.

The front and foremost thing, is how good the product is — it’s such high quality and that’s because its direct from source.

It’s really nice getting those texts [Foodchain send out blasts with daily specials and seasonal items from its producers].With us, we are quite spontaneous with our cooking; For example, we took on those Mallards after we saw it from the Foodchain list, and when we get bored of that, we’ll look at the list and then get something else. Those Caesar mushrooms which came in, we did a ham-fat Caesar dressing. It’s nice to have that choice of different ingredients which we can’t get from standard suppliers.

He get’s his mallards from Chanctonbury game, Caesar mushrooms from Bello Wild Foods. Both available via Foodchain.

Also, usually all of our suppliers are either lamb, or veg, or dry. With Foodchain you can order anything you want. I like that.

Are you a chef or restaurant owner and are interested in hearing more about Foodchain?

www.joinfoodchain.com

Interview with Sam Bryant, Head chef of Coalrooms was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nestled in desirable Oxfordshire, where celebs and Soho House members are beginning to buy up land and fill it with lamas, rather than lamb, lies Forge Farm.

A rather rewarding sense of autumn was evoked by visiting a pumpkin farm mid-harvest. In London, the only signs of the season tend to be the plugging of #basic pumpkin spiced lattes from Starbucks and busier underground tubes.

Forge farm is far removed; driving up to the farm you’ll immediately get a wave of its charm. Barge boats (Greg’s first home when he moved to the farm) line the riverbank and chickens roam freely around the quirky chaos.

Greg hands me a hot cup of coffee, sweetened from the hives on the farm. What a sweet welcome.

Greg is American. He was brought up on a farm so his passion for growing and nurturing began from a young age. He came to England for university, where he sowed the seeds for his future on British soil by meeting his lovely wife Kate.

Lucky for us.

Forge Farm is an organic farm specialising in pumpkins and squash. Greg also sells raw honey, apple cider vinegar and corn.
His operation is sustainable farming at its finest; Greg makes his own sawdust and uses it to fire up the Rayburn (old fashioned cooker). With its constant heat supply, he dries out next years seeds. He collects the essential wood ash daily from the burner to add to the soil as a fertilizer.

He has been on the 5 acre plot for 35 years.

Greg takes me to the polytunnel, which is the hub of the harvest. Makeshift wooden crates are piled high with this season’s produce and he takes me through all of his babies individually. The variety he has is vast and impressive, each one having a story and a soul.

“This is the Lakota squash,” Greg tells me. “I sourced the seeds from the Lakota Tribe of the Sioux Indians.” Greg goes to both north and South America on annual expeditions to bring back heritage seeds.

He enlightens me that supermarket favourite, the Butternut, “never properly matures in this country.” And it’s true, they look tiny and pathetic.

“Joseph, the head chef of River Cafe gave me a handful of seeds that he got out of a squash he brought back from Italy.” Greg presents me with a rather grey-green coloured squash with a huge ‘button’ on the bottom that he calls the “Ute” Squash.

He points to a bunch of carving pumpkins casually mentioning: “Those are for Stella McCartney.”

This man wearing dungarees on a humble farm in Oxfordshire sure is well connected.

For the rest of the afternoon Greg takes me around the rest of the farm, showing me the oak trees he planted from acorns, the barge boats he’s currently renovating and the cider he is brewing in his basement. His love for the farm is paternal and adorable.

He comes into London weekly to drop his produce at some of the city’s top restaurants, including all of Angela Hartnett’s restaurants and St. John Bread and Wine.

If you’re interested in some of Greg’s lovely produce for Halloween or for a beautiful autumnal dish, get in touch with Foodchain.

Pumpkin Greg was originally published in Foodchain on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.