Time's Table with... Jake Bucknall of Dinner For One Hundred

Every now and then a meal becomes more than just a meal. It could be innovative and exciting – the kind that shapes your cooking going forward. But there’s something equally magic about the dish your mum used to cook you growing up, or even the reliable weekly staple you knock together on repeat.

In this series, Time’s Table, we chat to people about the food that has left an impact on a time in their life – be it their past, present or future. Trust us, you can learn a lot about someone through what’s on their plate. 

Time's Table with... Jake Bucknall of Dinner For One Hundred

To call Dinner For One Hundred a pizzeria would be doing them a disservice, though their pizza is really up there with London’s best. As you may have guessed, the business started as a dinner for one hundred people – a mission to bring people in the community together – then Covid hit, and founders, Jacob Stuttard and Jake Bucknall, were forced to pivot. 

Armed with a spot in Jacob’s mum’s front garden, the former bus tour guide and pizza chef Jake started slinging slices to hungry visitors of south east London’s Telegraph Hill.

As they built a loyal fanbase, they took over the kitchen of The Perseverance pub in Holborn, and finally came a bricks and mortar bar in Nunhead. 

Jake (pictured left) with business partner Jacob (Credit: Twisted)

With all three spots thriving today, the pair might have the beginnings of a pizza empire – but more importantly they’re back to their original mission. Leaning on their background of putting on club nights at uni, they’re once again uniting people through jazz nights, supper clubs and singles dinners that are harder to get into than Glastonbury.

But what meals make Jake the chef and business owner he is today? As part of our series, Time’s Table, we asked him to name a nostalgic favourite, a present staple and a meal that’ll inspire him in future. 

Past - Baked beans

“Growing up, I didn't come from a foodie family. Sometimes my dad would actually put fish oil in spaghetti bolognese, and I just remember always being the one noticing and being like, ‘what the hell is going on?’

“This sounds like I’m slagging my family meals off – I’m not – but I remember going to Bella Italia once and having spaghetti bolognese and being like ‘this is literally so delicious’.

“I think that’s when the lightbulb clicked. It’s not as if they’ve got a genius robot making everything, you can make food good by following a formula.

“[Food] just became a thing I cared about more and more as I got older. I worked as a waiter in a Thai restaurant, then every next job kept being something to do with food. 

“I found pizza when I was 19 and then never got another chef job. It’s simple but you can try and do it better each day. I would say I like all food, but particularly when it's consistent and the same thing, rather than too artisanal.

Baked beans are Jake's comfort meal (Credit: Getty)

“I had a cheese toastie with baked beans last night and as I was sitting eating it I was like, 'this is a f*cking good meal'. 

“Anything baked bean-based – like jacket potatoes with cheese, red onion, beans and mustard, or hash browns with beans – is just the most comforting meal ever.

“I think it’s because when I was a kid I would go to a caff and have a fry up. I would have gone with my dad from the age of like...nine, ten, before school. I don't remember chatting, all I remember is indulging.

“There’s a really good place called Electric Cafe in West Norwood, [where I grew up], and I went there and got baked beans, hash browns, sausages bacon, mushrooms, eggs – no black pudding, because I wasn’t old enough for that yet – and a hot chocolate.

“As I got older, sometimes I would go to the caff with mates, but probably (like, half the time) it was on my own. 

“It’s funny because I know my business now is about bringing people together, but sometimes, when you’re really into food, you just don’t want to have any distractions.”

Present - Tomato pasta (with a twist)

“I try and cook different things, because I’m always thinking about adding it to the roster here [at D4100], but at home, pasta is my forte. 

“I’m quite a simple man – there’s nothing that outlandish or intricate. My favourite pasta is a really easy tomato one. 

“I cook two carrots, some garlic, a tiny bit of leek, tiny bit of meat and maybe a couple of anchovies and oil in the pan, then put tomato sauce in there.

Jake has nailed his pasta game (Stock image - Credit: Getty)

“Then I blend it and it basically becomes this orange sauce, and the carrot takes out the acidity of the tomato. 

“I have it with short pasta, loads of really good parmesan and loads of really good olive oil, and I can eat that until I pass out, basically. 

“I used to work at Jamie’s Italian but I never made it onto the pasta section because I found pizza. So, I’m self taught…but also I’m not because I’ve literally been in an Italian kitchen since I was 18. 

“I’ve done lots of research [in Italy] – my favourite part is Rome – but I also just get inspiration from cooking staff lunch. A lot of the time it’s pasta, made from whenever we have lying around.

Carrots are Jake's secret ingredient (Credit: Getty)

“I love eating pasta at home but I’m trying to do it less, because in Italy they don’t eat as much as us – they eat small portions. 

“If I had people over I’d probably do a small pasta, lots of salad, lots of vegetables – artichokes, peppers with anchovy, really nice broccoli with olive oil, lemon and parmesan, scallops. I’m all about balance but getting that deliciousness!”

Future - Roti

“Just ask Jacob, we’ve already got, like, five new business ideas… we’re just not sure when they're ready to work.

“We do pop-up restaurants, here [at the bar]. We had a South African duo from Kudu Grill, we did an Anglo Bangla night (which was basically me – Anglo – and our head chef Ramen – Bangla), and we did one with Malaysian chef, Hakeem [of Nunhead’s Duda Diner].

“For that, we did cockle rendang with flatbread and anchovy butter, this slow roast chicken [satay], beef massaman, coloured pandan cakes... it was great.

“I [have an] idea to put loads of different things on roti, and that’s the whole menu.

"I’d literally have roti canai for breakfast every day if I could. It’s just got that lovely indulgence of flaky, crispy pastry and warming dough, and you can have an egg with it as well.

“With roti, you just know a lot of skill goes into making them as thin as possible, so that it's got all the surface area and is nice and crispy. What I like about it is that it's very simple, but you can't just go and just casually make it. You have to be really good at it – kind of like pizza.

"All of our pop ups might end up being a restaurant [one day]. That’s the exciting part of the business. It all ties back to what we’re all about at Dinner For One Hundred.

Jake fell in love with roti in Malaysia (Credit: Getty)

"It's good to mix people and take them outside of their bubbles. Go into a pizzeria today and you'll see the whole world – Afghans, Venezuelans, Algerians... they've all got something to show that we don't know.

"We’re doing an Algerian pizza next month, because two of our pizza chefs are Algerian and they know the flavours. We could do a Venezuelan dance party with arepas… it’s all possible!

Featured image: Twisted