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A little place I know: Cafe Green
21st January 2008
Some of you, on walking down St Owen’s street, may have noticed Café Green. It’s a fairly small, elegantly decorated café serving organic food, vegetarian food, local food, free range food…everything, essentially, that is ethical and/or ecological. The café was started a few years ago by Stephen and Louise Weir, as one section of a challenging enterprise. Their company, Art of Living, incorporates the café, a food and health shop and a therapy centre, all of which is tucked behind the non-radical façade of St Owen’s street.
The shop stocks food, particularly flour, seeds and grains, much of it from large self-service barrels to cut down on packaging, as well as local fruit, vegetables and bread. It also sells beauty products with minimal chemicals and toxins, alternative baby products and a large range of other items. The shop has found a niche that was previously unfilled in Hereford - a comprehensive alternative to supermarket shopping.
As someone without much commitment (i.e. none) to sport and exercise, I rather liked the sound of the therapy centre at Art of Living. Not a punch bag to be seen. Instead, you can do yoga, tai chi, shiatsu, Swedish massage, and there’s even a yoga class for babies. They also have sessions in homeopathy and numerous other meeting groups. I was particularly taken with ‘Stitch and Bitch’, the resident knitting group.
Finally, I guess the most important thing about a café is the food it serves. As food was my primary motivation for reviewing the café (you think I’m joking, don’t you?), I thought I’d do some (ahem) scientific research into the nibbles they had on offer. Recently the enterprising folks at Café Green have started supplying meals to several offices in the area, and for minimum environmental impact, they get it delivered by pedicab. What a terrific idea! I didn’t want to eat too much on my visit (I still had to waddle back up Aylestone hill) so I chose a piece of flan and had a cup of Fairtrade tea. Both were delicious - the flan was lovely and had lots of different vegetables in, and the tea was…well, tea, which is always good.
Incidentally, I was asked to mention that the café often has job openings, so feel free to drop in to ask about part-time work.
I’m no Matthew Norman (as those Guardian readers among you will attest) but in my inexpert opinion the Café Green has everything a good café needs, and is onto a winning formula.
Cecily Blench