About the Cafe

ABOUT US

The Gallery cafe is all about he best home-made vegetarian and vegan food in a great place to relax and meet  friends.
 We are situated in the basement of the Georgian terrace to the fore of St. Margaret's House. We offer a welcoming aspect to our users and a worthwhile service to the local community. During the past ten years the Café has embraced a very wide variety of roles. For five years, in association with the Rathbone Society, the Café functioned as a work-experience job-training programme for people with moderate learning difficulties. More recently, a registered charity of Buddhist men staffed the Café, members practicing right livelihood and taking a basic minimum wage.

The Café offers a wide range of vegetarian and vegan food and a varied selection of teas, coffees and soft drinks. It has become a favourite meeting place for those working in St. Margaret's House as well as local people. Friendly staff and a pleasing environment combine to create an important focal point for the House.

St. Margarets took over the direct running of the café from the London Buddhist Centre who were no longer able to find sufficient staff to do the job. We employed a chef-manager, Elias Djalili, who left after a few weeks to go to France to marry, then another, Bill Coombs, who left to pursue another career. After that Mario Gago devised a staffing plan that improved on the previous working practice in many ways. Mario Gago finally left after 2 years of running the Café and handed over the management to Joanna Suchocka who has brought amazing changes into the place since she started in October 2007.

The Café is now an ideal venue for evening and weekend activities. In the past we have had various musical and poetry evenings, lectures, fundraising events and special occasions. Currently we host free live music every Friday and a weekly open mic every Wednesday evening, with many more events planned for the coming months.

See our What's On section for more details.