Puddings and principles: social enterprise eating

Diners at the Cornwall branch of Fifteen

Restaurant chefs are increasingly combining good food and good causes, says Claudia Cahalane

Everyone’s heard of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, the east London restaurant which trains budding young chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds. But fewer people know the Foyer in Aberdeen, Acorn House in West London or Oak Farm Tea Rooms in Shropshire.

These are all socially motivated enterprises like Fifteen, offering opportunities for those sections of society which are often at a disadvantage in the job market.

There are plenty across the country. Some, like Fifteen, support young people; others employ people with learning difficulties, ex-prisoners or young mums. Each of them reinvests all profits back into the business to continue providing more training and opportunities for more people.

They add an extra dimension to the term ‘ethical eating’ and all serve top quality, home cooked food, with an emphasis on local, fairtrade and organic ingredients. We’ve listed a selection below to give you an idea of what’s out there. Most also offer a catering service.

Fifteen

Jamie Oliver’s London restaurant serves a sophisticated and interesting modern European menu, and has so far trained more than 100 young people. Three quarters of those who have trained there are still working as chefs. It has also spawned branches in Amsterdam, Australia and Cornwall, and there are plans to open more restaurants in the coming years.

Where: London, Cornwall and abroad

Employs: Young people who are disadvantaged or disaffected, aged 18-24. The Prince’s Trust has estimated that people aged 16-25 are twice as likely to be unemployed than older counterparts in the UK labour market.

Opened: 2002

Website: Fifteen

The Living Room Community Cafe

This chilled out Gillingham-based café serves home made soups, cakes, smoothies, snacks and daily specials. In the last year it has also paved the way for four sister cafes in the Medway area. There are now plans for two in London, along with a chef training school. The five cafes together employ 20 people from the local community. The staff move on when they feel ready to re-enter the jobs market and many have gone on to successfully find employment after working at Living Room.

Where: Gillingham/Medway

Employs: Anyone who needs a chance - from ex-prisoners, to mums who have been out of the job market for a while, to people with learning disabilities or mental health issues. A number of the prisoners employed have gone onto mainstream jobs. The Home Office estimates that four out of five 18-25 year olds released from prison re-offend within two years, but employment can cut the chance of re-offending by half. And, according to mental health charity MIND, people with mental health issues are 11 per cent less likely to be employed than the rest of the population.

Opened: 2000

Website: The Living Room

Blackburne House Café Bar

The interior of the Blackburne House Cafe Bar

This arty café was set up to support the activities of the Blackburne House Group, a major training centre to get women skilled up and into non-traditional work. It serves an international menu with an emphasis on vegetarian dishes, priced at no more than £6.50 each. Employees are students on training schemes at Blackburne House, as well as mums and other women from the local area. The café also acts as a free exhibition space for local female artists and guests can enjoy a glass of wine with some jazz or performance on certain nights.

Where: Liverpool

Employs: 10 local women and students of Blackburne House Group. In the UK, only 32 per cent of women with children aged five or under are employed, according to the Prince’s Trust.

Opened: 1988

Website: Blackburne House

Oak Farm Tea Rooms

A bright, traditional café that serves light lunches and homemade cakes. The acres of greenery surrounding include a tranquil patio area, herb garden and small orchard. Fresh eggs come from the farm next door. The café is managed by social enterprise Pathways-Shropshire, which also runs the Old PrintWorks Coffee Shop and Frogmeadow Community Café nearby.

Where: Ditton Priors, Shropshire

Employs: Six local adults with learning disabilities who are training in work-based catering skills. It gives them a chance to mix with non-learning disabled people and those who are able, move on to mainstream employment.

Opened: 2006

Website: Oak Farm Tea Rooms

Acorn House

Acorn house is a social enterprise created by Shoreditch Trust, which aims to deliver hands on eco-friendly training to young people from the local community. With a strong focus on fresh, healthy food Acorn House features a seasonally changing menu with a glamorous edge.

The executive chef’s CV includes impressive credits such as Fifteen, Kensington Place and the River cafe. Calling its unique style of cuisine Modern London, Acorn House’s menu aims to reflect the cultural melting pop that characterises the capital.

Where: Gray Inn Road, Swinton Street, Kings Cross.

Employs: Acorn House trains 10 young adults every year in the eco friendly restaurant trade. Selected from the local community, this group will learn all aspects of the hospitality industry from leading experts. Acorn House also offers work experience placements for local school children, as well as providing space and facilities for local groups.

Opened: 2005

Website: Acorn House

Blas y Waun Café

This homely café is surrounded by gardens and a nature park. It serves snacks, daily specials and homemade desserts and cakes. Staff also make their own jams and chutneys, which are served at the café and available to buy. During winter, when the café is quieter, cookery lessons are given to all workers.

Where: Waunfawr, Caernarfon

Employs: A small number of learning-disabled staff, who are trained in basic skills to give them confidence to move onto mainstream work if they feel comfortable to do so. A survey of more than 1000 learning-disabled people by Community Care magazine last year found that while 66 per cent of people surveyed wanted a job, only 22 per cent had one.

Opened: 1998

Website: Blas y Waun Cafe

Water House

Another Arthur Potts’s creation is The Water House, which has taken its eco ideas one step further. Situated on the Regent’s canal in East London, the restaurant has been designed with the environment specifically in mind. As well as creating its own renewable hydroelectric power and hot composting, there are solar panels on the roof to provide the hot water and paperless menus.

Using only fresh, seasonal and organic produce, Roux-trained executive chef Potts has created a monthly changing menu that has a strong emphasis on simple and sustainable food. Like its sister restaurant, Water House is also owned by the Shoreditch Trust and delivers its profits back into regenerating the local area, all in all creating an entirely guilt-free food fest.

Where: Orsman Road, Old Street, London

Employs: The Water House pledges to train 10 young local people in the ethos of eco-friendly best practice in the restaurant trade.

Opened: 2008

Website: Water House restaurant

The Foyer Restaurant and gallery

The Foyer is part of a charitable organisation working to prevent youth homelessness and unemployment. Housed in a former church in Aberdeen, the restaurant’s backdrop also serves as an ever-changing gallery space for local artists to exhibit their work.

The seasonal menu changes every seven weeks with a focus on fresh and simple food. The Foyer’s modern European menu gives classic cooking a fun contemporary twist. All of the profits raised through the restaurant are used to support existing work with young people.

Where: Trinity Church, Crown Street, Aberdeen

Employs: The Foyer doesn’t have a specific employment strategy with regards to disadvantaged young people, but all profits raised through the restaurant are used to support the parent charity’s ongoing work to reduce homelessness and unemployment.

Opened: 1999

Website: The Foyer