Sneak Peek: Nine Chains
Neighbors have been tapping their feet waiting for the opening of Nine Chains, the forthcoming bakery from the folks behind The Farm on Adderley, since we first posted about it in September–and after some prodding, Tom Kearney and Matt Amberg finally let us into 1111 Church Avenue for a look around. The bakery is still likely a few weeks at least from opening, but construction is in the final stages and menu development is well underway.
The name Nine Chains comes from R. Buckminster Fuller’s Nine Chains to the Moon, a 1938 manifesto based on the idea of ephemeralization, or doing more with less. Their menu, once hammered out, will be small but lovingly-crafted, with a focus on handmade breads, a selection of sandwiches, salads, and vegetable plates, and pour over coffee from the Brooklyn Roasting Company. There’s a seating area for four or five, so most orders will be to go.
Tom recognizes The Farm will likely continue to be more of a destination than Nine Chains, but is applying the principle of making more with less (or at least, with what he’s already got) by turning the address The Farm has used as a kitchen for Celebrate Brooklyn for the past few years into a fully-functioning storefront.
The breads will be made using heritage grains, which are minimally processed and easier to digest than grains used in much of the bread sold today. Tom says while he hasn’t yet found a bread marketed as gluten-free that he enjoys, breads available at Nine Chains will suit the needs of the gluten sensitive, and several other non-bread dishes will happen to be gluten-free as well. And, like The Farm, the menu will be changing seasonally to accommodate the freshest and healthiest ingredients possible.
This morning, Matt showed us several naturally leavened breads, including no commercial yeast, which each take a total of about 24 hours to make. He says the long bulk fermentation process he’s using has proven to give breads (including buckwheat loaf, sour wheat, and sour white today) a longer shelf life and better moisture retention, as well as being easier on the digestive system.
He says he’s hesitant to use familiar terms like ciabatta or baguette to describe bread at Nine Chains, since there’s a particular ingrained expectation associated with such words, but that he’s looking to make something new. In this case, new might mean a stuffed bun (above, via ninechainsbk), loaf cakes, or a twist with filling (which, if it must be said, is reminiscent of focaccia).
“Everyone has their established idea of what a bakery is,” says Tom, intent on creating a new connotation for the word. He says the basic principles of shorter supply lines will be transitioned from The Farm to Nine Chains, and overall, he simply aims to make truly wholesome food accessible to the community.
When the time comes, Nine Chains (1111 Church Avenue between Stratford and Westminster) will open from at least 8 or 9am–if not earlier–until about 7pm. Until then, you can keep up with the bakery on Twitter, and see what they’re trying out (more whiskey bread, perhaps?) on Instagram.