Primeur owners team up with farmer for new N6 bakery-restaurant

This September, Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim (pictured right) and David Gingell (left) will open their new bakery and restaurant, Jolene, on Newington Green, London N16, in mid-September.

Teaming up with farmer Andy Cato, Jolene will make everything from scratch each day, milling Cato’s grains into fresh nutritious flours to use for breads, pastries and fresh pastas. From morning to evening, these unique grains are the core ingredient at Jolene, showcased in most dishes from the kitchen with produce and provenance led cooking style.

Naroques, Cato’s farm in Gascony, began in 2008 when, dismayed at the ecologically devastating effects of big agriculture, he began researching ways to grow nutritious, chemical-free crops in a sustainable way. His pasture-based growing methods are now installed across 100Ha as a viable alternative to destructive farming techniques.

To provide a local supply for Jolene, grains for the bakery will be sourced from two UK farms, one in Goodwood, Sussex, and Priory Farm in Norfolk. Working in partnership with Cato, they are growing his diverse population of original wheat varieties, with the first UK harvest just about to begin.

Jolene will throw open its doors at 9am throughout the week, revealing a bakery counter stacked with loaves and pastries. Bakers at Jolene will use the freshly milled flours in slow-fermented dough to produce the Naroques bread, which provides the kind of highly nutritious, vitamin rich, digestible and delicious bread that justifies its historic place at the centre of the table.

Also on offer will be raisin bread and sausage rolls; on the sweet side, madeleines, palmiers and financiers take cues from classic French bakes, while croissants and cinnamon buns make the perfect breakfast choice.

As well as milling daily for bread and pastries, those same grains will be used throughout Jolene’s daytime menu for fresh pasta, stews and salads. As at Westerns Laundry and Primeur, a daily changing menu will be chalked up on a blackboard.

From 7pm, Thursday to Sunday, the lights will be dimmed and the kitchen will dish up simple plates for dinner, with vegetables from Flourish farm in Cambridge, ethically-sourced fish from the day boats in Cornwall and Devon, and meat from a farming collective in North Yorkshire.

There’s a changing line-up of smaller dishes and a daily stuffed pasta, while to share, guests can pick from Grilled cod on the bone, olives and artichokes; and a 1-kilogram T-bone, parmesan and rocket. To finish, there’s a choice of tarts and cheeses and a rich Bread, apricot and butter pudding for two.

The wines follow a similarly stripped-back approach, with a small selection of whites, reds and sparkling wines picked by natural wine enthusiast Cometto-Lingenheim and his team of sommeliers from Primeur & Westerns. The smaller wine list allows for more beers, ciders and cocktails to appear at Jolene. For those looking for a healthy pour, a daily fresh juice and in house fermented drinks, make up the rest of the drinks list.

Overlooking Newington Green, the interiors at Jolene are simple, raw and earthy – designed by Cometto-Lingenheim, mud and lyme washed rough walls are softened by textured banquettes and Thonet chairs.

Guests can opt for one of two big sharing tables in the middle of the room, with counter dining seats overlooking the kitchen and bakery. Eight smaller tables give a view of the stripped-back front terrace, where, clouds permitting, guests can gather for a glass of wine amongst pots of leafy herbs and shrubs.

Cometto-Lingenheim and Gingell said, “We have decided to open a bakery restaurant that revolves around and relies on the grains rather than it just being another ingredient. Our approach at Primeur and Westerns Laundry has always been attuned to the need for sourcing well-farmed produce ethically grown with soil fertility in mind and tended with care.

‘We’re bringing the same values and narrative to Jolene, this time with breads baked with Andy’s incredible grains and inspired by his passion for sustainable, efficient & sensical farming methods.”