A former arts editor swapped literature for lattes with the launch of a new café today in Clerkenwell – after overcoming the “uphill struggle” of her coffee machine being stuck in Calais.
Rosie Hore, who worked at the Royal Academy of Arts, will open her take-out park café in a former park rangers’ hut in St James’s Churchyard,Clerkenwell.
But the kiosk, scheduled to open on Monday, was delayed as her Italian-made coffee machine was held at customs.
“It has been a bit of an uphill struggle to get everything together,” she said.
Rosie has lived in Clerkenwell for almost seven years and said the idea of “walking down the road and having my business where I live” inspired her to set up shop locally.
She first decided she wanted to set up a park café back in August last year, saying she “took it as fate that this would be my site for the business” when the then owners announced they were leaving.
Rosie added: “A park café must do something different to a High Street café.
“It has to serve the park users and community and be flexible for people who use it, as green space belongs to everyone.
“I want to do something a bit different and make it a space to get neighbours together over good coffee.”
Clerkenwell Kiosk will open seven days a week from 7.30am – 5pm.
“When you are a business owner, you have to rely on yourself in the end,” she added. “You have got to put the hours in.”
Despite saying she lacked “coffee experience”, she worked at Giddy Up Coffee, owned by Lee Harte on Islington Green, on weekends for the last month training as a barista.
“People have been so open to helping me and the fact he took me on was him saying ‘let’s share some knowledge and work together for no other reason than I was in your position once’,” she said.
Alongside Giddy Up, Rosie also worked with Chris Brumby from Lockdown Bakehouse, who she described as “very inspiring” since they set up as a lockdown business last summer.
“I hope I can do them justice,” she added.
But Clerkenwell Kiosk has not been immune to the challenges of setting up a business during lockdown.
Rosie said that not being able to visit her suppliers – such as Lockdown Bakehouse in Wandsworth – was something she had to adjust to.
The café will serve local, seasonal and tasty food and artisan coffee roasted in East London.
Rosie said she hopes “people are going to trust me with their morning coffee or afternoon tea.” “It’s a big deal, “she added. You can’t mess it up.”
Clerkenwell Kiosk will also serve “babycinos” – foamy milk with some chocolate powder on top – for free.
Rosie said that “little kids go wild for them” so it made sense that “it’s going to be on the house”.
She also promised to ensure her “background” of working at the Royal Academy of Arts is prominent in the café’s art deco.
With Clerkenwell Kiosk set to become the latest park café to enter the market, Rosie said her aspiration is “that it becomes part of a long tradition of London’s park cafés”.
