From MasterChef: The Professionals quarter-finalist Cecily Dalladay and former head chef of Clapham’s Pique Café, Zoë Heimann, Bara – meaning ‘bread’ in Welsh – will serve sandwiches showcasing sustainable Welsh ingredients, all on fresh bread baked in-house.
Standout dishes will include a Caerphilly cheesesteak with eight-hour smoked Welsh beef brisket, Caerphilly cheese and Blas y Tir leeks, alongside a Pembrokeshire lobster roll filled with poached Câr-y-Môr lobster in a bisque mayonnaise.
The brunch menu will feature a near-traditional ‘Swansea breakfast’ of smoked bacon, leeks, cockles and laverbread on toasted focaccia, alongside Welsh honey butter pancakes, brown crab rarebit and ragù on toast.
Breakfast will be available from 7.30am, with Welsh classics such as bara brith (a tea-soaked fruit loaf) and savoury options including leek bubble and squeak, and egg and cheese focaccia.
Drinks will include coffee from Welsh specialty roaster Coaltown Coffee, Tiny Rebel Welsh lager and a concise wine list featuring a traditional-method Welsh sparkling wine. Soft drinks will include Welsh still and sparkling water and Gaza Cola.
The concept draws inspiration from Dalladay’s Welsh heritage and a 1950s Welsh Gas Board cookbook that belonged to her grandmother, combined with the founders’ shared love of bread.
In the evenings, Bara will showcase local culinary talent through a rotating programme of diaspora and emerging chefs.
“As a proud Welshwoman, I’m keen to shine a spotlight on the incredible produce coming out of Wales,” says co-founder Cecily Dalladay.
“I feel that, as a nation, Wales is underrepresented in London’s food scene, and I’m excited to showcase these exceptional suppliers.
“Our food and coffee taste better because the ingredients and suppliers behind them work with care and attention. We’re partnering with companies that share our values – from Câr-y-Môr, Wales’ first regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm, to Coaltown Coffee, a B-Corp with strong community roots. Together, they embody our ethos of ‘Bread, Opportunity, Community’.”
The founders also aim to embed the café within the local community by offering discounted space for non-profit groups to hold meetings. Once established, Bara plans to launch an entry-to-work scheme supporting marginalised groups, including asylum seekers who face barriers to employment even after being granted the right to work.
The café will also partner with local food banks to redistribute surplus food and provide vouchers to help make its offerings accessible to the wider community.
Zoë Heimann adds: “I’m incredibly proud of the work that has gone into building Bara. We want to be intentional about creating a space where the Peckham community can come together, break bread and connect.
“We’ve already felt a strong sense of community through the support of family, friends and local residents who have welcomed us to the area.
“A café can do more than sell coffee, and we’re building the kind of business that values its entire ecosystem – from employees and customers to suppliers and fellow local independents.”
Bara is a female-founded business, supports women in hospitality and is a London Living Wage employer.