I visited Unity Kitchen Cafe, right next to the newly opened Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the London 2012 site. In the photo above you can see the Arcelor Mittal Orbit behind the cafe.
Unity Kitchen is a social enterprise which spends ‘every pound of profit to directly support people with disabilities to get a chance, build a career and plan for a great future’. They have a number of cafes and cater for events too.
The approach to the cafe through the Park was something pretty special in itself and the location of the cafe was amazing- a stone’s throw from where many of our Olympic heroes strutted their stuff.
The cafe felt modern, buzzy and spacious- it struck the right balance between feeling like a treat but also having an inclusive, friendly environment.
First I had a goat’s cheese frittata with a salad. The goats cheese wasn’t too overpowering and the potatoes were cooked to perfection. It looked appealing too!
I’m quite a coffee geek and I enjoyed my latte: it was well balanced and smooth, with just enough of a coffee kick, perfect for lunch. In fact, I liked the coffee enough that I went back and bought a filter coffee to take away.
However, the highlight by far was the carrot cake, the best I have ever tasted. Believe you me, I have tasted a few. It was moist, rich, dense and bursting with flavour. In fact it was so good that I even went up to a member of staff and told them what I thought about it.
After the meal it was lovely to be able to wander outside, the view of the Velodrome and the grassy hill that has been created right outside the cafe was amazing. It would be a lovely spot to have an ice cream in the summer and there is a great children’s playground too, so it’s a good bet for families. I love the idea that you can shop in Westfield, stroll in a park, eat at a lovely cafe, remember the London Olympics and support a social enterprise- and that they are all right next to each other. I urge you to go and see for yourself and to check out Unity Kitchen’s other venues too.
Do you want to review a social enterprise / charity cafe? Get in touch!
Read about other social enterprise cafes in our Food for Thought series by clicking here.
