Cooking Up A Storm

Meet the gastronomic maestros set to explode onto Cambridge’s culinary scene this year. Miriam Balanescu ventures into their kitchens…

Go (dough)nuts 

Life has been hard to predict,” laughs Chin Chin Bakery’s pioneer, Peichin. Founder of multiple foodie businesses in London – from Pantry & Co to Halex – she originally studied and worked in fashion, but a re-evaluation brought her irresistible bakes to London and Cambridge’s culinary scene. “I felt like I had kind of misplaced my priorities. My children were quite young when I started the business. So I literally missed out on a big chunk of their growing up.”

Now the chef and baker hopes to focus on the simple joys in life. Peichin has begun crafting delicious doughnuts which she’s already supplying to Flourish Farm Shop, with a store in Cambridge soon to follow. 

Peichin’s passion for food began at her father’s restaurant in Taiwan. “I’ve been working alongside him since I was eight, because in the family business, you work together,” she explains. “In a traditional domestic kitchen in Taiwan, there are no ovens, so I didn’t grow up with baking. If you make any cakes, they’re steamed or made with sticky rice. Flour is a very European ingredient. I feel I discovered baking when I started Pantry & Co.”

She has come a long way since her first bake for her husband’s birthday (which ended with a shop-bought Tesco muffin). 

“I want to do something I love and something I’m really good at,” enthuses Peichin. “For me, the joy of delivering a cake that’s had all this effort put into it to someone’s table is what I love.”

Now turning her attention to the wonders of the doughnut, she insists that this pillowy delight – which takes up to 48 hours to create due to time spent proving the dough – is well worth the effort. “Doughnuts are a guilty pleasure for a lot of people,” she says. “I feel like there is so much they can do to lift up a person and brighten their day.”

With flavours spanning classic vanilla custard to mellow matcha, Peichin has even crafted a dairy-free version with cereal milk for her son. “When you get to my age, making people happy is a simple joy,” Peichin continues. “When I was in the business in the past, I spent so much time worrying about invoices or other things, but not about the things I love.

“The doughnut is a very humble product,” she declares. “It’s not going to stop your problems; it’s not going to solve climate change. But it makes you realise that if I can enjoy this mouthful, I can make it through the rest of the day.” 

Visit chinchinbakery.co.uk to get your hands on some!

Rough and crumble

Crumble is one of the more overlooked desserts, despite its many variations making it a solid choice throughout the seasons. Humble Crumble in Shoreditch was among the first to bring it onto the street food scene, proving that this slightly old-fashioned pudding could be made trendy once again.

Fighting its corner in Cambridge, The Linton Kitchen has cooked up a new van serving all kinds of crumble. The pop-up was spawned from a conversation between founder Gemma and Becca from Off the Beaten Truck, who was ‘looking for something warm’ to keep customers toasty throughout the chilly months. 

“We thought it would be fun to have a pick-and-mix dessert bar,” says Gemma. “We like to use gluts of fruit.”

Borrowing a friend’s horsebox, Gemma and her team are also serving a range of other desserts at Off the Beaten Truck, the first pop-up project of this kind for The Linton Kitchen.

“We wanted to get our name back out there,” says Gemma, “and do something different. It’s really nice to take our products out to different audiences.”

Visit thelintonkitchen.com for more.

Causing quite the stir

Long a pillar of the Chesterton community, Stir Cafe took flight in 2015 after husband and wife Matt and Judith felt the need for a community-focused cafe serving good coffee – a sore absence at the time. “We were having to walk into the city centre or drive to the Beehive centre to the Costa,” says Matt. 

Upon opening, the cafe quickly charmed locals and became decorated with awards – making it difficult to nab a table. Securing the Chesterton Road location (a former motorbike showroom) for the cafe, however, was an uphill battle – with rent prices hiked up and competition fierce. It was at Glastonbury Festival seeing Frank Turner with his daughter, Matt recalls, that he got a call from an agent with the offer. “There’s a line in one of his songs, ‘no one gets remembered for the things they didn’t do’, which I’ve always loved,” insists Matt. “The easiest thing would have been to say it’s not for us.”

Becoming a community fixture inCambridge’s culinary scene, in 2015 Stir took over the shopfront next door and opened its sister bread and confectionery business, so it could produce its own goods for behind the counter. But the pandemic was what really breathed new life into this bakery. “We would find that six or seven houses on the same street would start ordering,” says Matt of the company’s fresh-from-the-oven lockdown deliveries. Demand outstripping capacity led to the opening of a new bakery in North Cambridge, now the biggest artisan bakery in Cambridgeshire. Its brioche recently won gold in the World Bread Awards.

“What we miss that some other places have – even Norwich – is a really committed artisanal cafe-bakery hybrid,” says Matt. Stir Bakery is now supplying delicious pastries, breads, baps and cakes for the likes of Gog Farm Shop, Butch Annie’s, Pint Shop, The Tipsy Vegan, Graduate Hotel, Scotsdales and the Hot Sausage Company.

There are even more delicious developments on the way. Stir is soon to open its first city-centre bakery shop, crammed full of bakes and cakes. After that, expect more Stir Cafe and Bakery happenings on the horizon. 

The journey hasn’t been without its challenges, however. Sky-high property prices and a worker shortage still pose a threat to Cambridge’s culinary businesses. “Space for food places is squeezed,” says Matt. “These two factors – low availability and high rent – squash innovation.” Despite these obstacles, Stir has gathered a devoted following – and seems set to thrive. 

Check out stircambridge.co.uk for more.

Spaghetti for business

Soon to open on Sussex Street, Yard – a product of Norwich’s diverse gastronomic landscape – will open its second branch in Cambridge. Leaning on an Italian foodie philosophy of simple fare done well, the restaurant focuses on one of the country’s great exports: pasta. 

“Italian food is just really good food,” explains Yard co-founder George. “It’s simple, there’s no pretence to it. Tomato pasta is amazing. You don’t need anything else. Good-quality tomatoes, parmesan and pasta – that’s all.”

Together with business partner Natty, George opened Brick Pizza in 2015, honing the doughy delight in all its wood-fired glory, before starting Yard post-pandemic. “I wanted to try something else,” George says. “People like destination restaurants.”

With a few core dishes, this pasta den has aced cacio e pepe, beef shin ragu, Venetian duck and cinnamon ragu, as well as fennel and sausage pasta. But it tweaks its menu week to week, spearheaded by head chef Jade. It also boasts a seasonal bespoke cocktail menu, designed by a friend of George. 

“This is a big step for us because we’re outside of Norwich. It’s quite scary,” says George. “But the model’s worked so well and we’ve had such fantastic feedback since we opened. We’d like to keep things similar, adding specials and allowing our chefs to do other things as well.

“We’re confident, but it’s nerve-wracking for sure. It’s a difficult time to be opening a restaurant. We are confident in the location, and confident in Cambridge. It’s a beautiful site, big room, huge ceilings, lovely floor – it’s just going to be a big open space, with an open kitchen so everyone can see the guys cooking as well.” 

See the Yard menu at yardnorwich.com.

Guildhall of fame

A stellar fusion food offering from mother-and-son duo Orlene and Leon has finally landed in the city centre 

Formerly tucked away in Milton Country Park, a beloved eatery has taken up residence at the beating heart of Cambridge’s culinary scene. During lockdown, mother and son Orlene and Leon – recently returned from the US – resumed cooking together just as they had done throughout Leon’s childhood – and so Orlene’s Kitchen was born. 

“I was forced into the kitchen growing up by my dear, lovely mother,” laughs Leon. “My mum doesn’t like chopping. I was the eldest. But, you know, it’s funny because something I used to hate has turned into a passion. I’m a big boy and I love my food. So, I was like, if I can get this thing done quicker, so be it.”

A takeaway service came first, then the duo began catering for events. “After a couple of months, it got to the stage where we had to move out of my kitchen,” recalls Orlene. Now, she and Leon look forward to taking up new cafe headquarters over at The Guildhall, near the city’s gastronomic epicentre, Cambridge Market. 

“It’s good we’re in the centre, serving the community – people coming in can sample what we do,” says Orlene. Fusing Jamaican flavours with American fare, the food is inspired by Leon’s visits to the US, combining the likes of wings, burgers and loaded fries with rice and peas, jerk chicken, curry goat and dumplings.

“When I started cooking in my mom’s kitchen again, I thought it would be amazing to fuse her Jamaican food with what I’ve picked up from the US and through working with other restaurants,” explains Leon. “It was something that kind of took off, as there was nowhere else you could get these things together.”

The pair will continue catering (now fuelling attendees of Guildhall events) and keep up their takeaway hubs from Milton and The Empress pub (available on Sundays and Mondays). They have plans to marry grub with their musical backgrounds, too, hosting events for an all-round good time. 

“I grew up in a gospel church, my father’s a minister in a Pentecostal setting,” clarifies Leon. “My brother’s a professional singer, Mum’s always led a choir. It’s always been evident in our lives.”

Leon and his brother are well-known on the Cambridge music circuit, performing live at La Raza. “Having this iconic space in The Guildhall, we definitely want to bring music into play,” he enthuses. “Music and food go extremely well together.”

Through working with schools in Cambridgeshire and charities like Romsey Mill, Leon and Orlene hope to champion community causes from their new base. “We want it to be somewhere we can highlight issues close to our hearts – somewhere inclusive, where people feel comfortable to chill, eat, drink and hopefully share, too,” says Leon. “A big reason we wanted to take the space was having that community feel within the building, which I’m hoping should radiate outside and attract people to us.”

Winning acclaim in Milton so far, Orlene’s Kitchen has tempted many a footgolf player with enticing smells from its food van. “We’ve survived two years and still have customers,” says Orlene. “I think it’s our flavours that attract people.” With a more permanent location in the city centre, it’s sure to be a brilliant and delicious future for this foodie favourite. 

Take a trip to Orleans’s Kitchen via orleneskitchenonline.co.uk.

Hot topic

A source of much excitement in the city has been the recent opening of a cafe with one big twist – it’s dedicated entirely to hot chocolate. Lovers of the confection will want to leg it to Knoops on Green Street, where not one but 20 different chocolates are available across a spectrum of white to dark – plus additional sprinklings of everything from pink salt to cardamom – enabling you to concoct your dream beverage. 

“My first memories of chocolate as a child were with my grandmother, who always rewarded me with the stuff,” says founder Jens Knoop. “Although it wasn’t great-quality chocolate, it was about savouring the moment.”

With a background in photography, Jens had a moment of inspiration while strolling the streets of London, wishing he could get his hands on a good hot chocolate. “The Brits have a sweet tooth,” explains Jens. “Milk chocolate is the bestseller, which is very close to how Germans enjoy their chocolate as well. That’s why I feel confident translating my experience from Germany to the UK.”

The first store opened in Rye and was a runaway success. “We’re being approached by cacao farmers from Mexico and Venezuela who want to work with me, it’s such a privilege. People that have farmed cacao for 200 years have been emailing me because they heard about what I do, and how we can represent their cacao.” 

Jens’ approach is sustainability-steered without compromising on taste, and he’s always building relationships with new suppliers and producers. “The chocolate market itself changes all the time,” says Jens. “Some companies go, some emerge. New territories are explored for where to farm cacao. Some have bad harvests, some have good harvests. It’s constantly in a state of flux. But I’m always on the lookout.”

There’s a distinction, though, between great chocolate and great hot chocolate. “Eating chocolate and using it for hot drinks can have very different results,” warns Jens. “I myself stepped into that trap. Now I don’t even eat the chocolate when it’s been sent to me. I don’t touch it. But I immediately test it in a chocolate drink, then say, let’s look at the company history. Are they emerging? How have they established their sustainability story?”

‘Knoopology’ is the science-informed philosophy behind the brand, with hot chocolates categorised by percentage. Inspired by the history of chocolate, the drink is then frothed: “In Mesoamerica around 3,000 years ago, the most prestigious drinks would be frothed,” claims Jens. “Often, the froth was taken off and given as a gift to the gods.

“This has been done for thousands of years,” he continues. “But our way has never been done before. It’s an interpretation of what’s happened historically. Without that heritage, we wouldn’t be here. But with the quality of the ingredients we can get nowadays, the expertise and passion of our Knoopologists and, of course, our machines, what we are making is super contemporary.” 

Go to knoops.co.uk for everything hot chocolate.