WELL BREAD
Herne Hill has become the bread capital of South London. Be
Kindred Bakery 23 Half Moon Lane For Anthony Kindred it was a choice between BT engineer or baker. The National Bakery School at Elephant & Castle won out and he joined the family business. His grandfather baked during World War II in Peckham. They worked together at Mayfair Bakery (in what is now a hairdresser’s) on the corner of Rosendale Road and Guernsey Grove. Yeast is in the genes and his son Ben Kindred started working with him in 2000, perfecting the croissant, based on patissier training in Belgium and France. “Pastry is more forgiving,” Anthony says, and he prefers to bake family favourite Apple Turnovers and Eccles Cakes. His wife Lisa concentrates on cakes, and the artistic flourishes with modelling and icing. Anthony gets up at 3.30 a.m. every day to prepare his first batch. “You can’t rush bread,”
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Blackbird Bakery 230 Railton Rd he says, and he has three shops to bake for: there is also a large one in Gypsy Road and a small one in Dulwich Village with a tearoom. They supply the caterers rather than the functions directly and bake any bread to order given 24 hours’ notice. Bakers are friendly, he says, and even if they are commercial rivals, they can always borrow flour and yeast from each other if need be. The BBC and Channel 4 have called on Anthony’s expert knowledge to help them develop TV programmes. Anthony feels honoured to be elected President of The National Association of Bakers for 2013-14. He will represent all craft bakers and be speaking to Government and other food industry leaders. While Anthony tours the country, Ben will continue to develop the wholesale side of the business and keep Herne Hill’s businesses well supplied.
Herne Hill-Autumn-2013
Eamonn Sweeney learned his trade in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts before starting a bakery in Milkwood Road. He wanted to raise the quality of artisan bread by not using commercial yeast in his wholesale company, ‘Four & Twenty’, from which sprang Blackbird Bakery. In 2005 he opened his shop in Herne Hill, managed by Ashley Griffiths. “It was big enough at the time. But it became smaller as we became bigger.” In February they moved further along the parade into the outlet that used to be Selections. He now has shops in Crystal Palace, East Dulwich Grove and West Norwood. There are also bakers at Herne Hill’s Sunday Farmers’ Market: Tart, Ashley Hay-Campbell’s
l This article was written before the floods of 7 August businesses, including the Kindred Bakery. Many in Hal It is likely to be some weeks before everything is back to