St John's Wood chef Jake Finn reports heatwave boosts rooftop tomato harvest

A rooftop garden on St John’s High Street has yielded an unusually large tomato harvest this summer, according to the chef who tends it. Jake Finn, owner of Cinder in St John’s Wood, said the recent heatwave has helped tomatillos and other tomato varieties thrive, while some crops, including British strawberries, have suffered.

Finn, who also runs No 49, an all-day bakery, bistro and wine bar, grows produce for both restaurants in the garden. He told the Ham & High that the 33 consecutive days of temperatures above 30°C have created ideal conditions for certain plants. Tomatillos, a Mexican variety of tomato, have been a particular success, he said.

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Heatwave delivers mixed results for rooftop crops

The garden, established on the roof of Finn’s St John’s Wood restaurant, supplies ingredients for dishes at Cinder and No 49. Finn said the heatwave has improved the flavour and colour of tomatoes, describing them as sweeter and more intense than usual. Other crops, including sweetcorn, chillies, gherkins, beetroot and carrots, have also performed well.

Not all plants have benefited. Finn said British strawberries have struggled with the sustained high temperatures, making them harder to source for his restaurants. The same heat that has boosted tomatoes has damaged other crops, he told This Is Local London.

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Elements of the garden have been thriving. One of the biggest successes has been our first crop of tomatillos, which are a lesser-known style of tomato grown inside a distinctive papery husk and used a lot in Mexican cooking which seem to be loving the hot weather.

Jake Finn, chef and owner of Cinder

What the harvest means for local diners

Cinder, which opened in Belsize Park in 2021 and St John’s Wood in 2023, serves a Mediterranean menu cooked over fire. Dishes include cedar-plank salmon with pickled cucumber and shallots. No 49, which opened more recently, is run by chef Ella Williams and offers an all-day menu.

Finn, a former chef at the Ritz, said the rooftop garden allows him to use fresh, locally grown ingredients when they are in season. The bumper tomato crop will likely appear in dishes at both restaurants in the coming weeks, though it is unclear how long the heatwave’s effects will last.

The garden’s success with tomatoes contrasts with broader challenges in British agriculture. Finn said the heatwave has made it difficult to source British strawberries, a problem that may affect other growers across the country.