After the flood, the new Eden Bakery fires up a fabulous food adventure
The flood which destroyed Eden’s main restaurants last November has provided the chance for the project to radically reinvent its approach to food.
Baking has been part of Eden for years and now the making of bread is being placed at its heart with the introduction of a new Eden Bakery between the Biomes. Fresh, nutritious, hand-made bread will be served warm from the oven which has been installed in the Link Building’s main eating area.
Eden has teamed up with Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis to create the new food adventure, the first phase of which will be open this weekend (16-17 April). Eventually, the plan is for everyone to see expert artisan bakers in action, have a go themselves, and pick up cookery advice.
Tim Smit, Eden’s chief executive, said: “You’ll be able to enter the world of the artisan baker, taste the finest products of the art, see it in action and soon try your hand at it – one of the most satisfying experiences you can imagine. It’s a question of knead!
“One of the greatest pleasures known to humankind is the smell of fresh bread. Bread is the staple – the staff of life.
“People have been growing grain, grinding flour and baking bread for over 5,000 years and the daily tradition of baking is still with us. Some of Eden’s projects around the world, in Latin America, the Far East, India and Eastern Europe, have shown us that often the staple diet is one form of bread or another.”
The main ingredient in the Eden Bakery is flour, which of course makes bread, but there will also be pasta, pizza, pastries and cakes as well as salads and soups – all prepared and cooked for everyone to see.
Eden’s managing director Gaynor Coley said: “We want to put food at the heart of all we do. We are working hard to create the first phase of the Eden Bakery. You’ll be able to watch delicious dishes being prepared, eat freshly-baked breads and pastries and pick up fantastic cooking tips. This will be an exciting new way of experiencing Eden – through its great food.
“To help us we’ve teamed up with Clive Cobb, founder of Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis. Clive is working with us to fast-track the Eden Bakery and we’ll be exploring together how we can allow the widest number of people to enjoy the experience.”
Clive Cobb said: “Our ethos is that mealtimes should be like they are at home, with breakfast, lunch, tea and supper, and it’ll be the same at the Eden Bakery. This is the start of a long journey. Our aim is to draw people to a place that creates an environment by its mere presence, sharing the values of integrity, quality, sustainability and individuality as found at Town Mill Bakery.”
The Eden Bakery in the Link Building (Rainforest Biome side) will be serving:
- 9.30am–12pm, Breakfast: Create your own, using freshly baked bread, toppings, muesli, boiled eggs, croissants
- 12–2.30pm, Lunchtime: Soup, stew, focaccia pizza, rarebit, savoury Danish, bruschetta
- 2.30 to close, Afternoon Tea: Cakes and sweet treats.
There will also be freshly made sandwiches available all day in the Link Cafe (Mediterranean Biome side). Other great places to follow the Eden food adventure include:
- Gallery in Visitor Centre: cooked-to-order breakfast and brunch
- WEEEman area: hog roast
- Mediterranean Biome: al fresco-style dishes
- Jo’s Cafe in the Core education centre: vegetarian hot and cold dishes
Find out more details of food and drink on the Eden website.
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19 responses to After the flood, the new Eden Bakery fires up a fabulous food adventure
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We visited yesterday. It’s a shame that, despite appearances, Eden seems to no longer be catering for families. The new bakery is incredibly confusing (confusing = intimidating/scary) so gave up on that pretty quickly. Went to the Link Cafe instead. Also quite confusing but managed to buy two not very nice sandwiches made with rubbery bread for an extortionate amount of money. Unfortunately, couldn’t get any suitable food for my children, nor any non-fizzy drinks, and bizarrely was given a coffee mug in which to drink my elderflower presse as apparently glasses “are not allowed” in the new cafe. No highchairs… in all a weird, pretentious set-up and not an experience I wish to repeat any time soon. I know the Town Mill Bakery in Lyme well and it’s lovely, but maybe the owner should have stuck with what he knows (ie catering for a town of 3,000) rather than for a tourist attraction which regularly has over that number of people through its doors on a daily basis.
Hi Kirsten, We’re sorry you feel that way. We really appreciate your comments, though. It’s still early days for our new food idea, so we’re working on ways to improve it all the time.
My fiance and I recently visited Eden and thought the new bakery was a wonderful addition! The atmosphere was lovely and the food was delicious. We are regular visitors, even though Eden is more than 200 miles from our hometown, and of course we were devastated by news of the floods in November. This is our first visit since then, and we feel that the whole team have done a fabulous job recreating the restaurants in such a short time. Very well done! And needless to say, we will certainly be returning.
Hannah and Chris
We visited yesterday and found the new link food arrangements very confusing. Every visitor had a puzzled look on their face and had no idea where to go. Lack of drinks and selection of food. Used to like having a pasty on our trips to Cornwall. Having finally realised we pay after eating/drinking, felt intimated when asked “is that all you had?”. Felt very uncomfortable with the atmosphere, the place was also incredibly dirty, the floors need to be swept. Chairs and tables very unstable, and also dirty. Whilst sat there we commented on how everyone seemed to be completely lost and disappointed. Maybe you need some signs up explaining the new process, as it’s completely alien to normal UK food outlets we’ve experienced. The thing seems to be lacking flow that is easy to follow and very random it it’s setup. I hope you manage to sort it out as there is no way I can see it working with the summer crowds.
Hi Lucien, We’re sorry you didn’t enjoy the bakery. Thanks for your comments, though. We’re getting lots of feedback about our new food offering, which we’ll take on board as we develop it in the future.
enjoyed the new food experience but it almost needed written instructions as you entered … and I can’t quite believe that everyone will be truthful about what they had when they go to pay, though it is a lovely idea! Wonderful coffee and danish, with a few refinements this could be terrific. The food was extremely good
To take something as wonderful and readily available to all as bread and baking and turn it into something that feels exclusive and pretentious is what the town mill bakery does best! why the hell has a family attraction like the eden project seen fit to follow suit. most dissapointing, and i too found it all very confusing!come on eden project… could do better!
Visited yesterday with family and friends, found the bakery set up VERY confusing – thank god the girl on the door greeting people saw us coming in from another door! shewas very helpful and explained how everything worked. Food was great although I think there could be more of a selection with drinks.
We visited the Eden bakery for lunch on our visit to Eden in June 2011. We quickly figured out what to do and found the whole experience from choosing the wooden board, deciding what option to take, to not paying until the end very liberating and definitely a talking point. I am vegetarian so being able to eat everything on offer is such a wonderful rarity for me. The food was so fantastic we are going to try to recreate the savory danish at home! Well done! Keep it up, if we didn’t stay in Aberdeen we would go back to Eden just for lunch!
I regret as a frequent Eden visitor & supporter, that after entertaining hundreds of friends & foreign visitors regularly since opening, that the whole food process has become so chaotically negative following the flood problems of which we were so well informed. I concur only with the comments of extreme disappointment so well documented above & add that it was tragic to hear of so many people complaining or suffering while I was there a few days ago. The embarrassment of a few staff questioned about the current food policies was also sad in so far as it was evident the staff are being forced to do their best, but in their own words, the catering is summarily unacceptable. I recommend that in future like me, visit so as to avoid mealtimes because the disgusting state of the facilities and the exceptionally poor standard of food provided now must be forced to change by economic circumstances and quickly before the inherent mess causes a demise of the project on a greater scale, as is currently threatened. Waste now from this project mismanagement can only be described as criminal. No wonder neither I nor the previous kindly old gentleman before me to the till, di not pay for our meal and my foreign guests were equally staggered at the experience. It is not shaping up well so let’s see it changed from gimmick to common sense and fast. Where’s Gordon Ramsey ? I could not imagine the swearing & all deserved at the moment.
I visited the Eden Project last week and the Bakery was my favourite place. I was very impressed with the setup and choice of food, and I also loved the fact that you could see the bakers at work. Everything is in front of your eyes (and nose) for you to choose and take – no need for menus, waiters or bills. A truly wonderful concept, well done!
I have been involved with the development of the Eden Project from its inception and until now have recommended it unreservedly to friends and visitors. However, I can no longer do so, without warning prospective visitors that the standard of the catering facilities has drastically declined since the re-opening after the flood problems. Sadly, I have to agree with all that Martin Mather said in his July 12th posting. I would highlight the uncomfortable seating arrangements – more suited to a school refectory – eating the overpriced food off a block of wood, the unappetising, limited choice of cold drinks and the uncleared, messy tables – due to lack of sufficient staff? Finally, the haphazard method of payment, which I know caused other visitors to be confused, and as I saw for myself, leads to people leaving without paying and your staff in the embarrassing position of trying to prevent this. It is time to admit that the experiment has been a failure and to re-think the whole catering arrangements.
Bakery was a rip-off like the rest of the visit.
The bakery was fantastic. As a first timer to the eden project, meal time became awe inspiring. Love eating off wooden boards, wish I could have bought one to take home home! Only drawback is the price really, for someone who’s tight with money like me that meant I couldn’t have a lot. I disagree with a previous comment about it not catering for children, every child in the area seemed to be amazed by the experienced.
Visited at the weekend and went to the bakery for breakfast, Didnt take long to suss out how it worked, Food was lovely. Any chance you could send me the recipe for the granola bar. It was the best ever.
Hi Shaun, Here’s the granola bar recipe! http://www.edenproject.com/blog/index.php/2012/01/granola-flapjack-recipe/
The bakery is a confusing place to eat and possibly the most un-child friendly eating place yet devised. The lack of trays make it impossible for an adult to collect food for their children. There is also a lack of ‘child-friendly’ options on the menu. Having to collect drinks from a seperate area means having to abandon your children just to get a coffee. The food is OK, if a little pricey, but the lack of plates leads to some very questionable hygiene issues. Food constanlty falls from the blocks onto the dirty tables.
All in all, not a pleasant eating experience for parents with young children.
We visited Eden for the first time yesterday and after an exciting ascent in the Rainforest biome we were ready for some lovely grub. I’m afraid I have to agree with a lot of the above comments, the bakery was a let down. Slightly overwhelming when confronted with the initial outlay, but eventually worked our way to the self service area. The food was average and overpriced – having already spent £46 admitting two adults, we weren’t expecting it to cost £19 for a light lunch with drink! It was pretty frustrating finding a space to sit down and eat too. All in all a very annoying experience that goes to show communication is key!
I recommend if you want to eat at Eden, either take your own lunch or head for Jo’s cafe in The Core, much more to my liking. I must admit, I loved my first visit, even if it was slightly overshadowed by a very poor lunch!
Thankyou for your comments Sara. We’re sorry you had a disappointing experience – we’ll pass all your feedback on to our team.