The Café in the Park

“Our founding principle was to create a space which was accessible to our community. The focus has always been on sourcing with integrity – working alongside farmers and producers that treat the animals and people in their care with respect. Additionally, we feel that a happy team will encourage our customers to return again and again, and many of our team have worked with us for many years. We work alongside our team, as part of the team, and would never ask somebody to do a job that we weren’t prepared to do ourselves. We want to be inclusive and have many volunteers who work two to eight hours a week; adults with varying degrees of learning difficulties.”

Park salad with British-grown quinoa, beetroot, cauliflower, harissa yoghurt, toasted seeds, dried tomatoes, and herb oil; The Café in the Park burger with brioche bun, piquillo mayo, cardamom-cured pickles, and twice-cooked chips; and rice bowl with wholemeal basmati, lentils, Lebanese tahini, and local yoghurt.

Not enough is being done by the industry to include people with learning disabilities in every aspect of restaurant life. The Café in the Park is setting an example that others really must follow, and follow soon, if we are to call ourselves a civilized twentyfirst-century democracy. On top of that, it’s serving delicious, creative food, crafted by a team of eight chefs. Plus, all baking is done in-house to ensure optimum freshness and quality.