The name, taken from Rose Schneiderman’s speech “the worker must have bread (necessities for living), but she must have roses (opportunities to flourish) too”, sums up the way in which we place value in, work with and help each other. We recently set up a pay it forward scheme, where meals and drinks can be purchased in advance for customers who can’t afford them. There has been a demand for this, with meals being redeemed by service users from homelessness charities, and local refugee and asylum seekers groups. We also offer a ‘Solidarity Drink/Meal’ pay as you feel option on the menu. There is a facilitated Youth Cafe on Mondays and Wednesdays; a social space focussed on mental wellbeing. It’s important to us that our cafe space feels accessible and welcoming to all, and for us to actively promote that.

 

Aubergines!

I was in Kerala earlier this year and learned to make appam with potato and pea coconut stew. They are these lovely and light little pancakes, spongy in the middle with lacy and crisp edges. You use them to mop up the creamy and delicately spiced stew. I am obsessed. Making and eating this brings back memories of the best holiday of my entire life, too, so it’s doubly delicious. 

 

Totally. I think until not even that long ago, veggies and vegans would genuinely rejoice when finding at least one meal option on a menu. It’s such a joy to provide great quality veg and vegan food at Bread + Roses and the feedback we get is so appreciated. People are becoming much more switched on about the environmental and health damage, and ethical concerns linked with consuming meat and dairy. So of course as the demand for vegan food increases, I think that successful food businesses need to keep up, staying on the ball with new and enticing dishes and styles of dining. A bit of an afterthought stuffed pepper is not gonna cut it anymore. I’ve been watching MasterChef for years and this time even they had a vegan challenge. Massive.