A mother of two, more accustomed to working at Michelin star restaurants and Buckingham Palace, has become the driving force behind a cafe in East Ham’s Central Park.

In 2017 top chef Sophie Downer found herself compelled to do something to benefit the community. Although she was baking nearly 50 sourdough bread loaves from her home in East Ham every week, delivering them to friends and family via a WhatsApp group called Bread Club, she wanted to do more. When she saw the vacant café in Central Park, she decided to run Bread Club from there for one winter.

Four years on, Sophie has expanded her menu to far more than bread and is a London Living Wage employer for a team of ten. Her mostly female team are from the local area and many are mothers themselves. “We’ve got a really amazing workforce here – very flexible, reliable and talented,” said Sophie.

The high-quality ingredients, home-made dishes and fresh local produce transformed a park café into a gourmet but affordable lunch spot. During lockdown, the café benefitted from a new customer base; commuters-turned-remote workers who have been discovering the take-away dishes in their lunch-breaks. Mauricio Cruz, a regular at the cafe, said: “This café has the best – and only – fresh sourdough bread in the whole area. I love the sourdough toasties for lunch.”

Sophie’s intention is to collaborate with local businesses to reinvest in the area – she uses honey from local beehives on Plashet Road, sells Plaistow-based Mr Singh’s crisps and produce from the community garden at Bonny Downs Community Association.

What can we expect from Sophie and her team in the future? Residents can look forward to a new summer menu including charcuterie plates and seasonal salads, while the cheesecakes and overnight oats will be back by popular demand. A local in-house coffee roaster will be taking up residence, the monthly supper clubs will be making a comeback and all the while Sophie will be keeping an eye out for any other dormant cafes in the borough that she can revive.

The Central Park Café has become so much more than just a café. It is a buzzing community hub where social groups meet, health and wellbeing classes are taught, and cultural events are held. Sophie said: “It wasn’t what I originally intended but I think this café may likely become a social enterprise.”

Central Park Café is open every day from 9am to 3pm and is a distributor of Newham Voices.

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