LONDON — It has been nearly a month since Home Kitchen opened, and Mimi Mohamed is pretty sure she knows the lemon tart recipe by heart. But just in case, a small notebook where she has written out the ingredients is propped up at the back of the steel counter: 18 lemons; 420 grams of butter; 900 grams of sugar; 24 eggs.

The recipe is from Adam Simmonds, a celebrated Michelin star-winning chef.

Novices like Mohamed are not usually found in his kitchens, but this new, upscale dining venture is not usual: Almost every member of the restaurant’s 19-person team has been homeless.

“The crew downstairs in the kitchen, they make so many mistakes, but that’s OK,” Simmonds said with a laugh. “We accept that and we learn from it.”

He is sitting upstairs in the front dining room. A large window overlooks the main commercial street in Primrose Hill, a neighborhood in north London that oozes British charm.

The idea was hatched four years ago by Alex Brown, director of Soup Kitchen London, where Simmonds took a turn cooking at the start of the pandemic. The most common question from those who lined up for food was “Do you know of any jobs?”

In cities across the world, homelessness and joblessness feed upon each other. Most employers won’t hire someone who does not have a stable address, which means the homeless can’t earn the money to afford a place to live.

Home Kitchen aims to break that cycle by training people for a career in the restaurant industry. Before opening day, recruits took a three-week culinary crash course and then spent two weeks in a kitchen at the Megaro, the five-star hotel where Simmonds was recently appointed chef patron.

They are on full-time contracts earning London’s living wage — $17.58 an hour — plus a travel allowance for their commute. Meals are provided during a shift.

If workers pass a 90-day probationary period, they are eligible for a fully paid, yearlong certification course in culinary skills from Westminster Kingsway College.

The founders were able to crowd-fund about $468,000 in cash and in-kind donations. An additional $280,000 was borrowed from a philanthropic social-impact fund. They also partnered with several charities and organizations to help support the staff. The aim of this nonprofit is to become self-sustaining.

Simmonds knows how easy it is to teeter into homelessness. The star chef, a recovering cocaine addict, remembers when he couldn’t pay his rent. His family took him in.

People wind up on the streets for all kinds of reasons, he said. “We’re giving them that second opportunity.”

Simmonds, who has struggled with relapses, has had a few second chances.

“I’m 30-something days clean and sober,” he said, sipping a glass of sparkling water.

That’s about the same amount of time that Home Kitchen has been open.