A fancy new restaurant in London, staffed by the recently homeless
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Dinner service at Home Kitchen, opened by celebrated Michelin-star-winning chef Adam Simmonds.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
LONDON – It has been three weeks since the restaurant, Home Kitchen, opened its doors and Ms Mimi Mohamed is pretty sure she knows the lemon tart recipe by heart.
But just in case, a small notebook where she has carefully written out the ingredients is propped up at the back of the steel counter: 18 lemons, 420g of butter, 900g of sugar, 24 eggs.
The recipe is from Adam Simmonds, a celebrated Michelin-starred chef. Novices such as Ms Mimi are not usually found in his kitchens, but this new, upscale dining venture is not usual. Almost every member of the 19-person team has been homeless.
“The crew downstairs in the kitchen, they make so many mistakes, but that’s okay,” Simmonds said with a laugh. “We accept that and we learn from it.”
Home Kitchen, a new restaurant in London’s upmarket Primrose Hill, employs people on the edge of homelessness as chefs, wait staff and cocktail-makers.
He is sitting upstairs in the front dining room. A large window overlooks the main commercial street in Primrose Hill, a neighbourhood in north London that oozes British charm.
The idea was hatched four years ago by Mr Alex Brown, director of Soup Kitchen London, where Simmonds took a turn cooking at the start of the pandemic. The most common question from those who lined up for food was: “Do you know of any jobs?”
In cities across Britain and the world, homelessness and joblessness feed upon each other. Most employers will not hire someone who does not have a stable address, which means the homeless cannot earn the money to afford a place to live.
Staff at work in Home Kitchen, a new restaurant in London.
Home Kitchen aims to break that cycle by training people for a career in the restaurant industry.
Before opening day, recruits took a three-week culinary crash course and then spent two weeks in a kitchen at the Megaro, the five-star hotel where Simmonds was recently appointed chef patron.
They are on full-time contracts earning London’s living wage – £13.15 (S$23) an hour – plus a travel allowance for their commute. Meals are provided during a shift.
This day, dinner was toad-in-the-hole, a traditional British dish of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, macaroni and cheese and gorgeously crisped roast potatoes. It was prepared by the head chef, one of four professionals who oversee operations.
If workers pass a 90-day probationary period, they are eligible for a fully paid, year-long certification course in culinary skills from Westminster Kingsway College.
The founders were able to crowdfund £350,000 in cash and in-kind donations. Another £210,000 was borrowed from a philanthropic social-impact fund.
They also partnered several other charities and organisations to help support the staff. The aim is to become self-sustaining, not to make a profit.
The kitchen has little resemblance to the gruelling, high-pressure atmosphere depicted in fictional TV series like The Bear (2022 to present) or Boiling Point (2023), where the head chef collapsed from a heart attack.
Chef Adam Simmonds, who took a turn cooking at Soup Kitchen London at the start of the pandemic, in the dining area at Home Kitchen, a new restaurant in London.
“We need to build their confidence,” Simmonds said. “We need to allow them to make mistakes” – like handing him dill when he asked for chervil. The veteran managers have to have empathy, he said, to “understand and teach and nurture”.
Simmonds repeatedly revised the menu before opening to ensure dishes could be successfully executed by inexperienced workers. A goat cheese mousse with figs, for instance, was dropped. He realised that the techniques, including poaching a fig and artfully placing its leaf, were too complicated.
Now, there is a single prix fixe £35 menu for lunch and dinner, with a choice of three appetisers and entrees. Most of the preparation can be done in advance. The lamb and chicken are cooked with a sous vide machine, which is precise and consistent. A £65 tasting menu is also offered.
Everyone is figuring things out as they go along.
A food preparation area at Home Kitchen, a new restaurant in London.
Mr Paul Brown, who was putting fish and chicken in vacuum-sealed bags, had never heard of menu items like celeriac or brill. The first is a turnip-like root, and the second, a fish from the turbot family.
Ms Mimi had to learn how to test whether the lemon tart mixture was heated to the right consistency. (Dip the spatula in the filling and swipe a finger down the middle to check if it separates cleanly.)
At the moment, Simmonds’ hours are long. Between here and the Megaro, where he is launching a second restaurant, he is putting in 17-hour days. “I can’t continue to do that,” he acknowledged.
But problems pop up. Recently, the temporary housing for two staff members fell through and they spent a few nights on the street. The team helped find a hostel placement and they are continuing to work.
Simmonds knows how easy it is to teeter into homelessness. A recovering cocaine addict, the star chef remembers when he could not pay his rent. His family took him in.
People wind up on the streets for all kinds of reasons, he said. “We’re giving them that second opportunity.”
Simmonds, who has struggled with relapses, has had a few second chances himself.
“I’m 30-something days clean and sober,” he said, sipping a glass of sparkling water.
Roughly the same amount of time that Home Kitchen has been open. NYTIMES