Platform Café: Affordable, Youth-Led Café In North London

Looking for a great place to enjoy a coffee and / or lunch? Want to avoid the large chains? Our Food for Thought series will offer you insight into cafés that provide good food and drink whilst helping others.

Platform Café 

Platform café is part of Platform, a youth-led arts venue for Islington’s young people. In 2011 the former Hornsey Road Baths was transformed into a 100-seat theatre, a 150-seat performance space, media suites, a recording studio, dance studio and a café.

The café is run by Lift Kitchen, a social enterprise employing professional chefs who are supported by young apprentices training for NVQ accreditations.

Decorated by young people, the café has a fun and creative vibe to it.

‘Sit down’, ‘She likes you’, ‘Platform Made Me’, ‘Lets keep the convo flowing’ – every hand-painted seat in Platform’s cafe has a different voice and style, just like the young people who made them.

Food & drink

Fresh, reasonably priced food is available, along with soft drinks and union hand roasted fair trade coffee.

A cappuccino at the Platform Café

Veggie quiche

What’s nearby?

Emirates Stadium – the home of Arsenal Football Club is a 15 minute walk away.

Overall

This is a great little café providing lunch and coffee at a reasonable price. It supports young people but it does not feel like a ‘charity’, so you don’t need to worry about being asked for donations or being bombarded with lots of information on the work they do. The young staff are friendly, and incredibly hard working – not stopping for a moments rest during busy periods and finding work to do (e.g cleaning) when it’s quiet.