Inside Chantelle Nicholson’s New Regenerative Countryside Hub
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4 days ago
The eco-minded chef has launched a new bakery concept
New Zealand-born chef Chantelle Nicholson rose to fame with her first solo venture, Apricity. Opened on Mayfair’s Duke Street in 2022, the eatery garnered rave reviews, going on to secure a Green Michelin Star for its low-waste ethos and focus on hyper-seasonal ingredients. And now Nicholson is adding another string to her bow: a new cafe, bakery and restaurant in West Sussex. The first phase launches this March – here’s what to expect.
The Cordia Collective: First Concept Launches
Opening within the gardens of the Grade II listed Borde Hill Estate in Sussex is The Cordia Collective, a new hub centred around Nicholson’s regenerative farming ethos. The first chapter launches on 31 March, Baked by Cordia, a concept encompassing two cafes: Gloriette, a summerhouse cafe housed within the gardens, and Gingko, sitting in the garden’s visitor entrance.
Designed to showcase the biodiversity and plant heritage of the setting, both will offer an array of handmade pastries made by Nicholson alongside head baker Janine Edwards (formerly of Toklas and Little Bread Pedlar). The signature bake will be the ‘curlicue’: a pastry coiled like a fern, and swirled with hand-foraged produce like wild garlic pesto, cinnamon and magnolia butter, and rhubarb crumble. Both cafes will focus on whole foods, including consciously grown wheat from Bruern Farm & Stoates Farm, High Weald Dairy’s cheese, and fruit and veggies from Shrub Provisions.
Alongside this, there will be focaccia sandwiches made with herbs and greens from the Borde Hill Market Garden, bacon baps and sausage rolls, plus coffees and sparkling wine from the nearby Roebuck Estates Sussex.
Later this year, The Cordelia Collective will open in the estate’s 118-year-old Victorian building, featuring a cafe, wine bar and glasshouse restaurant overlooking the biodynamic kitchen garden. The menu will be built around regenerative principles using ingredients from the garden, alongside local small-scale farmers. On the drinks side, there will be low-intervention wines, spritzes and garden-led cocktails.
‘We are delighted to embark on the very first phase of The Cordia Collective with the launch of Baked by Cordia,’ said Nicholson. ‘I’m excited to be able to be immersed in nature, with our kitchen in the middle of the garden. The connection between nature and nourishment, using beautiful, fresh ingredients to create something truly special is an incredible opportunity. To have Janine on this journey, a force of talent, is also so joyful.’
