Railway Arches 297-299 Cambridge Heath Road, London - E2 9HA
Let’s start with the name, Love Shack.
As much as it amuses us when people burst into song when walking past, a bricks & mortar tribute to the B-52’s was neigh our intention. Or perhaps somewhere deep in our subconscious it was, listen to the lyrics and a lot rings true. “Lookin' for the love getaway…The love shack is a little old place where we can, get together"…
A retrofitted likeness if you will, but also undeniably in harmony with our dreams to create a space of peace, love & community
We set out to build a space like no other, a place where you walk through the door and are made to feel instantly welcomed and appreciated, where the service is as familiar on your 1st visit as it is on your 100th.
Where like minded vegans, and more importantly, non vegans, could come and enjoy incredible food cooked and prepared by passionate chefs, baristas and mixologists and where you could come to a talk on mushroom cultivation one day and a rave the next.
A space that would educate, inspire and change opinions, whilst at the same time keeping things informal and fun.
When we found this little rundown patch of land on the outskirts of Shoreditch in Cambridge Heath, which as recently pointed out, is nothing like either Cambridge, nor a heath!
Love Shack was a car garage in a previous life, complete with wall to ceiling mirrors, and after that, had taken many shapes, chewed up and spat out many previous tenants and was nothing but an empty shell, with dangerous electrics, free roaming water waste pipes and a large hole in the kitchen floor as a result.
We’d fallen in love with the place way before we got close to figuring out how the fuck we could afford it. We sold pretty much everything we had, battened down the hatches and hit the streets looking for abandoned treasure so any customers we did get could at least sit down.
'Build it and they will come' was a phrase banded around anytime the magnitude of the project hit & humbled us.
Following this dream with absolutely nothing but passion in our corner, the potential pushed us in and our naivety held our head under. "We're the pop up that stayed up" we would tell all new customers
Our mission is to provide the very best hospitality we can and to create a culture where every team member goes above and beyond to make every customer feel comfortable enough to have an incredible time with us
We’ve learnt the ropes on the go, learned how to make new rope, tripped over a lot of ropes and have climbed a mountain with no ropes at all. It’s been quite the journey.
Navigating a pandemic, near constant building, fixing and tinkering, learning how to run a restaurant, how to manage an ever growing team, it's a lot. Particularly whilst trying to add balance to the mix and enjoy everything from the interactions with our beautiful customers, through to incredible events, friendships, nights spent putting the world to rights, and nights in, spent dancing like the world was about to end.
As individuals and as a business, the protection of animals and our planet are of paramount importance, and these ethics underlie everything we do!
Our menu is shaped by these decisions and so are our actions. Harking back to our first few penniless weeks & months (and years), we still reuse, repurpose and recycle everything we possibly can
Our mission with Love Shack is to take over the world (in a very nice way) by becoming a global space for positive disruption, social action & universal love.
We do this by creating a new sustainable community, movement & culture to challenge stale & conventional systems.
As a result we inspire & empower every single person to live with love & harmony with themselves, others & the planet.
Make yourselves at home and enjoy your stay
Love Shack x
