On The Rise: Moon Bedeaux

In a new fashion video, styled by Zoe Bedeaux, rising food and wellness star Moon Bedeaux shows us how to make healthy pina colada iced treats - below, she talks to HUNGER about what makes her tick.

Introduce yourself and what you do?

My name is Moon and Iʼm a recipe alchemist and the creator of Kult Kitchen. I develop my recipes intuitively crafting new combinations through my senses.

When did you start growing an interest in food?

As long as I can remember Iʼve been obsessed with food and creating things̶ I was an innovative child and I grew up in the kitchen. I loved Nigella Lawsonʼs cook book How To Be a Domestic Goddess. We would adapt her cakes by using gluten-free flours, rice milk and non-refined sugars way before this was prevalent in the media and sold in every supermarket. When I was 7, I thought Iʼd created the cheese omelette as I was experimenting in the kitchen with eggs, milk and cheese (and a dash of flour which is obviously not in the universal recipe) I was very pleased with myself – I made it for my dad who praised me, ate the whole thing without revealing to me what an omelette was, which I later discovered…I thought I’d invented it!

Some may say I had an unconventional childhood in the sense that I was learning through experience as apposed to traditional schooling; I went to a Steiner school, and during the holidays we were always traveling somewhere new which led to exciting culinary journeys. India, Jamaica, Mexico and more. Exposing me to authentic flavours, aromatic spices and cultures from a young age. My mother, grandma and my godmother (Andi Oliver who is a British chef and broadcaster) are exceptional cooks, which I believe has a part to play in my style of cooking and obsession with food. I draw my food inspiration from many cultures!

Whatʼs your go-to hangover meal?

Itʼs not often Iʼm hungover so I canʼt say I have a go-to meal so to speak, but you can’t go wrong with a veggie fry up with some homemade baked beans. I find the best remedies to have on a hangover are raw coconut water to replenish the electrolytes lost from the alcohol and milk thistle drops to help detoxify your liver. It can be beneficial to take alcohol free milk thistle drops daily to help the detoxification process; when I used to drink more regularly after introducing this into my daily routine I was experiencing little to no hangovers when drinking alcohol.

You call yourself a “recipe alchemist” – what does this mean in practice?

I see the practice of creating food as alchemy̶the art of transforming ingredients into new creations. Carefully crafting flavour profiles, inventing new delicious healthy soul foods. The first step is deconstruction. When creating a recipe I always ask myself what can I add or change when working with a traditional recipe to make it more tantalising for our tastebuds and nourishing for our gut. I am a super taster, so this is very important to me.

If you could change one thing in the food space, what would it be?

It would be food education simplified and ingredient transparency. If the average consumer knew more about the ingredients and were able to easily track the origin of the food they consume and the products they buy, this would be really helpful for people to make informed decisions on what they are eating and it’s nutritional value as well as it’s impact on people and the planet. A lot of underlying health issues are aggravated by the consumer not having the right tools to know what they are putting in their bodies. So if there was a way that useful food education could be provided to all in a simple fashion this would be practical and helpful to so many people. After all, good food is medicine and good food should be accessible to all.

Letʼs talk about Kult Kitchen, what is it and what do you hope to achieve with it?

Kult Kitchen is more than a cafe, it’s a way of life. The motivations behind the name is that the
food is so good you want to join the health ‘Kult’. Kult Kitchen is already garnering a healthy following with people travelling for our Kult Klassics –  cornbread topped with guac, kimchi and furikake, cordyceps snickers bars, black bean and baobab brownie, choc chip banana bread, Saturday’s buckwheat pancakes dripping in homemade matcha butter, cacao sauce and much more!

But it’s not just about the food – I am also a qualified L3 trainer and hold private consultations for weight training and nutritional advice at the cafe space. As well as events such as Luna manifestation rituals; an edible masterclass in which I teach you how to make my delicious
adaptogenic moon balls. Through this ritual you are able to set and consume your intentions
deeply within!

There are many different programs which I am developing, which aim to educate and heal.
My ethos is to bring you healthy eating without compromising flavour, (which people often
complain is lacking in healthy alternatives) in the shape of artisanal high vibrational whole foods. I aim to elevate your tastebuds and educate you along the way through my delicious, yet healthy recipes that are never processed, naturally gluten free and contain no refined sugars, unusual superfoods, adaptogens and unexpected alternatives.

What are your longterm ambitions?

I wrote a short book called Becoming Witch for my final year of Goldsmiths BA Design. Becoming witch explores the idea of witches as the original herbal healers and challenges pharmaceutical patriarchy, as well as exploring a programme for us to reconnect to our inherent relationship with mother earth. Writing this book was a focal point in developing my practice and belief system; I hope to get it published next year so it can be shared.

My long term ambitions are to have Kult Kitchen products that you can enjoy at home in every good organic retailers. This venture is already in motion with Kult Kitchen’s first roasted sunflower and date butter line called ‘Refield’ – the concept is we re-purpose unwanted jars which we refill with our delicious butters. At the moment this is only available to purchase at the cafe and is a great alternative to peanut butter (especially if you have a nut allergy). There’s lots more Kult Kitchen product’s in the pipeline, including a new flavour of ‘Refield’ launching soon, as well as some alternative Christmas hampers so please stay tuned! And then there’s the cook books but you’ll have to wait for that…

We’d like this video to develop into a series, to keep educating and inspiring viewers. I worked closely with the team to bring my visual aesthetic to life. I enjoy experimenting with food visually and worked equally as hard on the visual appearance of these lollies to resemble pineapple upside down cake as the recipe. I am intrigued by food styling and would like to explore this further. I also published my first article this year in Vogue and discovered food writing is something I want to delve into deeper…

 

Kult Kitchen currently operates Wednesday-Saturday 11-6pm and is based in the Organic Pharmacy flagship store at 51 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5HW. It is available for event catering, suppers and more. Come on down and join the Kult!

For further information please contact: @Moons.kult.kitchen / moonbedeaux@icloud.com

Director
Melody Berkery
Producer
Ella Kenny
Featuring
Moon Bedeaux
Art Director
Rita Ade
Production Manager
Nycollas Abreu
Director of Photography
Kiefer Passey
Editor
Sam Taylor-Edwards
Colourist
Katie Dymmock
Food Stylist
Moon Bedeaux
Fashion Stylist
Zoe Bedeaux
Hair Stylist
Quango Leung
Makeup Artist
Amanda Jah
Nail Artist
Lorena Lorenco
Set Assistant
Flora Grant
Film Location
Soho Friends
Special Thanks
Levi Armstrong
BTS Photographers
Molly Overstalll Khan, Henry Rich and Flora Grant
Knife Provided By
Japanese Knife Company (Japanese Knives are not to be used on marble as shown in film)