To mark International Women's Day 2022 we sat down with the lovely Jemima Jones to chat all things family, work, dungarees and everything in between!
Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?
JJ: Hello, thank you for having me, big fans of Dotty Dungarees in my household! My name is Jemima Jones. I live between London (Primrose Hill) and Somerset (near Bruton). I have three children, Eliza (five), Arlo (four) and Vita (nearly two). We have five dogs, gulp, and a chosen two come to London with us every week for gentrifying.
I am a co-founder of a restaurant and event space called Wild by Tart, in Belgravia, started with my good friend and business partner Lucy Carr-Ellison. We partnered up in 2012 to start a small boutique catering company called Tart London and opened our restaurant in the autumn 2019.
You run a super successful restaurant – Wild by Tart – write amazing cookery books, have three children and divide your time between London and Somerset! How??? What does a day in your life look like?
JJ: In London it's starts like clockwork getting the children up at 7am, dressed and down for breakfast, which can feel like the highest intensity of my day, and then walking them over the hill to school with the dogs.
I find this walk and moment in nature quite integral to having a good day. I will then head, either by a Jump bike or our electric car, into the restaurant and have meetings with our amazing team, which I love and feel very lucky to have.
Meetings throughout the week will include - menu planning with our head chef, recipe testing, events and catering planning, marketing and pr, retail meetings, working on new potential partnerships, cocktail tasting, directors and finance meeting and so on.
Then always home, without fail, for the late afternoon with the kiddies. I have got them into cooking with me in the kitchen, they both have their own equipment (the children’s knives from Opinel are excellent), they love this ritual, then onto homework, bath time and bed.
I will usually, on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, head out in London to see friends and eat somewhere exciting.
You always look amazing in dungarees and I know your kids have a lots of Dotty Dungarees. But should Dotty make dungarees for adults? Do you twin with your children?
JJ: Yes please! And no, I am not into twinning with my children!
Were dungarees a part of your childhood? How do they make you feel?
JJ: Yes they were, I still have all my old pairs. They always make me feel nostalgic and happy.
What three words do you associate with dungarees?
JJ: Rambunctious, laid back and outdoorsy.
Why do you choose to dress your kids in dungarees?
JJ: They are the perfect clothes for children. Super comfortable, durable and fun.
How much control do you have over what they wear? And if you have a choice, what is your favourite outfit for them - boys and girls?
JJ: Boys - mixture of dungarees, loose fitting linen shirts, sweatshirts, blue jeans and cords. For the girls - a mixture of dungarees, shirts, long flowing gipsy style dresses and jeans. I don’t like too much girly stuff on girls. If I can help it girls are dressed like tom boys.
Why do you think dungarees have stood the test of time?
JJ: Because they are reliable, hard wearing and very cool!
Quick fire time…
For your children, do you go for:
- Prints or plain? Prints
- Playful or pretty? Playful
- Gendered or neutral? Neutral
- Smart or casual? Casual
Now it’s your turn…
Ideal night in or got to get out? Got to go out (few nights of the week 😊)
Long haul travel or trips to the Med? Med
Sweet or savoury? Savoury
Fact or fiction? Fiction
Magazine or good book? Good Book
Cocktail or Champagne? Cocktail
Beach days or cosy winter nights? Beach Day
East or West Coast? East (to see my sister!)
Classic or quirky? Ideally both
Halloween or Christmas? Christmas
Surf or Turf? Turf
Box set or movie? Box Set
-----
Jemima's restaurant Wild By Tart is in Eccleston Yard, London and serves quite possibly the most delicious food in the city!!
