What started off almost as a 'bakery-in-a-cupboard' in a corner of Jamie Oliver's' Fifteen restaurant is becoming one of London's fastest growing artisan bakeries. Now based at its own premises in Battersea, south London, The Flour Station, co-owned by Jamie Oliver and Jon Rolfe, is recognised in as one of a growing breed of bakeries that are re-creating traditional bakery skills in response to consumer demand for authentic, natural products.
When Jon and his team of two bakers moved to the building that was to become The Flour Station, they had very particular needs from their bakery equipment. As a traditional craft bakery - producing bread and vienosserie by hand from scratch - they needed a whole range of equipment from ovens, through special proving racks. Working in partnership with AGA Bakery, gave Jon access to some of the best bakery equipment available, since under the AGA umbrella sit brands such as Bongard, Esmach, Pavailler and of course well known in the UK, Mono. Jon's point of contact was with Swansea-based Mono, who recommended the right type of equipment to meet the bakery's needs.
"Being part of AGA Bakery, means that Mono acted as a one 'one stop shop' to some of the best names in craft bakery and of course it made financial sense to buy all of our larger scale equipment from one source," Jon explains.
In most cases Jon specified Bongard - a well respected name in craft bakeries. The 2,500 sq foot bakery has a Bongard Electron Deck Oven - an all-electric oven that allows for each deck to be used independently, ideal for .
baking smaller quantities of bread as required. The Flour Station's quality artisan breads include Wheatgerm Levain, Spelt Sultana and Swiss Brown, all having a high water content which are given long resting times to give the deep full flavour characteristic of traditional bread. As well as Bongard rack provers, the bakery also has special provers to accommodate the long dough resting time.
Many of the breads are made using the bakery's own natural 'levain' or starter dough too. The Bertrand Fermentolevain is used to produce liquid levain that is then added to the dough to not only improve the texture of the bread but to enhance the taste.
The Flour station also produces a range of classic viennoisserie, including Pain au Chocolate and Apple Danish from scratch. Special confectionery mixers are installed for pastry work, while Bongard refrigerated bench tables keep the dough cold while working.
Chris Huish from Mono explains the choice of equipment: "In order to make sure that Jon made the right choice for The Flour Station, we took him on a tour of high class artisan bakeries and patisseries in France, arranged through our sister company Bongard, so that he could see both the equipment in action and the finished products."
Adds Jon "The fact that we are taking on new customers thick and fast is proof that consumers are eager to return to bakery goods
produced in the traditional way and this can only mean the re-emergence of artisan bakeries such as The Flour Station. For a young company like ours, being able to source our products from Mono Bakery's 'one stop shop' as well as having a back up service in just one phone call, is a real benefit.
"We can then concentrate on doing what we do best - making great bakery products - without worrying about our equipment," Jon concludes.