Words - Mancave London | Charlie Meadows

Pictures - Kin Cafe

Kin came into fruition out of a father and son’s desire to indulge in honest, fresh and healthy food in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. The café was built on this simple idea, with some very strong principles behind the scenes. To keep it interesting for their locals, they change dishes daily, always vegetarian with a strong vegan offer and some gluten free and raw options too.  

Care and time is taken to source prime ingredients and great products with emphasis on sustainability; not only environmental but also social, supporting other start-ups and small businesses. We chatted with Charlie Meadows from Kin Cafe to find a bit more about them and how they got started.

We love the concept behind your store, what was the inspiration behind it?

Well I've often felt that it's rare to come across a busy, small cafe that also has a comfortable and airy atmosphere, so this was part of my vision for Kin. Of course the food offering is central to our business, so with regards to this when I set the place up I saw a gap in the local market for not only health-focused vegetarian and vegan food but also food that was hearty enough to appeal to non-veggies, and that was made from top quality seasonal ingredients with an emphasis on creativity, keeping things fresh and ever-changing for our customers. We try and achieve this across the board with our overall product range as well.

How long have you guys been trading at KIN CAFE?

We opened in May 2014, so around 18 months now.

What’s your favourite thing on the menu right now?

I'm a big fan of our burger Fridays, where we have one vegetarian option and one vegan option. Last Friday we had a beetroot and quinoa burger which I rather enjoyed!

How do you take your coffee?

Call me boring, but I'm a flat white man myself!

Is everything made fresh on site daily?

All of our lunch and breakfast dishes are freshly made daily in our kitchen, some made to order as well. We bake cakes and treats pretty much daily as well, but these last a few days. Our organic juices are all freshly made to order as well.

What does a day in the life of working at KIN cafe look like?

It totally depends on whether I'm on shift or not, but if not, then a typical day would consist of catching up on emails, a few hours of admin such as going through post, paying and filing invoices, updating our accounts and payroll, helping out on the floor during busy lunch periods, regular meetings with my chef, manager and barista analysing sales and brainstorming on new product ideas, updating our social media channels and some other marketing/PR here and there as well. I could go on but wouldn't want to bore you! If I'm on shift then that takes up almost all of the day, working on the floor can be pretty tiring, but fun of course!