This August, Brick House, the award-winning bakery specialising in San Francisco-style sourdough loaves, will launch a weekend brunch at their warehouse style East Dulwich and Peckham Rye bakeries.
When founders Fergus and Sharmin Jackson discovered their love of bread in 2011, they swapped their careers in advertising and production for a new life, training at the San Francisco Baking Institute. On their return to London, they brought with them the recipe for the crusty, chewy, slow fermented bread that is a West Coast staple, opening Brick House in 2012. The new brunch menu centres around the sourdough loaves that have been at the heart of their bakeries, and supplied to some of London’s best restaurants, ever since.
Early birds can kick things off from 8am in East Dulwich and 9am in Peckham Rye with a freshly-brewed Square Mile coffee, before taking their pick from a line-up of delicious brunch dishes, many incorporating a slice or two of Brick House’s famous breads. There’s sourdough ‘Migas’, a Spanish twist on fried bread served with chorizo, braised peppers and a fried egg; Toasted brioche, which comes with lemon marscapone and roasted peaches and Smoked haddock with spiced potatoes, soft-boiled egg and curry leaf yoghurt. There’s also a choice of in-house toasts and pastries, including raisin and walnut sourdough toast with butter and seasonal Brick House jam, a chilli & cheddar cornbread muffin with a surprise egg inside, or for those with a sweet tooth, Brick House’s signature morning buns which come spiked with a choice of cinnamon or citrus sugar. To sip, Brick House will pour a selection of Daily Dose cold pressed juices, Jarr Kombucha, and an immune system-saving Moju Ginger Booster, or guests can get the party started with a spicy bloody Mary or bottle of Terra Serena Prosecco.
“When I was working in advertising, I would come home each night and head straight to the kitchen to bake,” says Fergus. “After a few years I realised that it had become a bit of an obsession, so we moved across the pond to the home of sourdough to learn the craft. We’d have the weekends off so we would use this time to trawl San Francisco in search of the very best bread, which was often a key part of brunch.” Sharmin adds, “Bread is at the heart of everything we do at Brick House, so our handmade loaves are the key ingredient for our new brunch dishes. For us, good food and good bread go hand in hand.”