In the Kitchen with Bara

A new neighbourhood café bringing Welsh produce to Peckham

In the Kitchen With is an original series from Honest Toil exploring the chefs, kitchens and restaurants using our extra virgin olive oil every day. Through conversations, dishes and behind-the-scenes moments, the series captures the people shaping thoughtful, ingredient-led cooking and the role olive oil plays in restaurant kitchens across London.

Bara, meaning bread in Welsh, is the latest neighbourhood café to land in Peckham – built around a simple but powerful idea: celebrating Welsh ingredients through thoughtful, seasonal cooking.

Founded by chefs Zoë and Cissy, Bara sits at the meeting point of their two worlds – South London and South Wales. "We're a café restaurant that centres around bread and Welsh ingredients," they explain. "We wanted to champion the best produce from Wales and bring it into a London setting in a really natural way."

Though only open since February, Bara already feels embedded in the local community. That sense of ease comes from a partnership built long before the doors opened. Zoë and Cissy first met while working on a community kitchen project in Brixton, quickly discovering a shared way of working that followed them through freelancing, pop-ups and, eventually, into opening a space of their own.

"It just made sense quite quickly," Zoë says. "We were always working together anyway." Cissy adds, "Once you find people you cook well with, you just keep finding reasons to do it again." The name Bara arrived early in the process. While exploring ideas rooted in Welsh food culture, Cissy and Zoë landed on the Welsh word for bread. "It just clicked," Cissy says. "Everything else kind of fell into place after that."

At its core, Bara is about bringing Welsh produce into focus – ingredients that are often underrepresented in London but deeply rooted in craft, quality and place.

From regenerative seaweed and shellfish farms in South Wales to seasonal British vegetables, the menu reflects a quiet but confident sense of heritage.

That philosophy runs through the kitchen – especially in how dishes are finished, dressed and brought together. One of the standout plates is their Egg Mayo and Peanut Rayu Focaccia, a layered take on a classic sandwich. The focaccia is made using Honest Toil, giving it a rich, flavourful base that carries the filling. Built on rich, house-made egg mayo with chopped radish, onion and chives, it's finished with a punchy peanut rayu that brings heat and texture. The whole dish is brought together with a generous drizzle of Honest Toil, adding depth and roundness while keeping the focus on the produce.

Alongside it is a seasonal plate of British asparagus on Toasted Focaccia with Poached egg and Laver Hollandaise. Made with seasonal asparagus and lightly dressed and finished with hollandaise enriched by Welsh lava seaweed. Here again, Honest Toil is used to bring everything together, adding richness and balance while letting the asparagus stay centre stage.

"It's about keeping things simple but not boring," Cissy explains. "Letting really good ingredients do the work." Behind the scenes, Bara's kitchen is built on discipline and sourcing. Everything possible is made from scratch, and supplier relationships sit at the centre of how they cook. "We try to work directly with producers wherever we can," Zoë says. "It means you know exactly what you're getting and it shows in the food."

More than anything, Bara has been designed as a place for people to gather. Already, the café has become a meeting point for Welsh communities in London alongside new regulars discovering it for the first time. "We really wanted it to feel welcoming," Cissy says. "Somewhere people can sit, talk, and feel at home."

Looking ahead, the team is focused on building out a programme of supper clubs and collaborations – bringing in chefs from different backgrounds and continuing to evolve what Bara can be within the neighbourhood. "It's only just started," Zoë says. "We're excited to see where it goes."

Try these two amazing dishes alongside a multitude of Welsh inspired delights at Bara in Peckham!