Opening on 31 May, it will be the third in e5 Bakehouse’s independently run and owned cafe-bakeries, joining its sites in Poplar and Hackney.
The partnership is described as reflecting both brands’ ‘commitment to bringing together communities with a strong focus on creativity, equity and sustainability’, and will serve a range of breads, cakes and pastries.
The new cafe’s design will reflecte5 Bakehouse and Poplar Bakehouse’s existing aesthetic of bright colours and industrial materials and will have modular elements that will allow it to transform into an events and temporary display space.
“We’re very excited to work alongside V&A East Storehouse teams to conceptualise e5 Bakehouse’s third cafe, e5 Storehouse,” says Louise Lateur, e5 Bakehouse’s managing director.
“Alongside artisanal baking, e5 Bakehouse has always been interested in design and sustainability. We’re working closely with V&A East Storehouse to design a cafe that inspires creativity and communal dining. e5 Storehouse will operate as a cafe deli with our familiar pastries, bread and coffee, alongside a simple breakfast and lunch offering.
“The cafe will also host events and talks to be introduced after the initial opening period.”
The first e5 Bakehouse opened in an arch in Hackney in 2011 and has since expanded into the adjacent arches adding a pastry department, flour mill, chocolate facility, and a deli shop to the mix.
It opened Poplar Bakehouse in 2017 in Tower Hamlets, a cafe, coffee roastery, shop and bakery, which was created to employ and train people from refugee communities while investing profits back into projects which support and welcome refugees arriving in the UK.
The company also owns Fellows Farm in Suffolk, which supplies its bakeries with cereals, vegetables and fruit on a weekly basis.
“We’re thrilled to partner with e5 Bakehouse at V&A East Storehouse to create an exciting and affordable café experience and vital third space where everyone is welcome. Born and bred in east London, e5 Bakehouse are passionate advocates for our shared local communities,” says Laura Parker, deputy director of V&A East.
“Their sustainable and inclusive approach to hospitality, desire to give back, and commitment to artisanal baking with ingredients sourced from their own farm and mill, are some of the many reasons we wanted to collaborate.”