Inkwell Arts Cafe open Saturdays 10am - 4pm
The kitchen refurbishment at Inkwell has meant that the idea of opening a weekend cafe could finally happen and will also mean so many more wonderful future projects for Inkwell. Thanks to the money we received from LYPFT and the help from Julie Meakin from Leeds City Council we have a kitchen that is fully hygiene rated and finished to a professional standard.
The opening of the Saturday Cafe ( November 2012) provides a hub for our local community and a safe relaxed place for everyone to enjoy. We offer crafts, delicious food and good vibes from 10am - 4pm every Saturday. ( And did I mention… we also make the most fabulous cakes!) The cafe has also created several new volunteer opportunities at Inkwell, from chefs to bakers, Barristas to craft facilitators and since we opened has received tremendous support from our local community.
Part of our Ethos at Inkwell is vegetarianism: we believe that food should be cruelty free, guilt free, healthy and nutritious and we create dishes for our menu that are colourful, tasty and importantly, reasonably priced. We use seasonal vegetables and produce, some of which is grown in our garden giving us the freshest organic produce available.
Fridays is the day it all happens and the kitchen is buzzing with trained volunteers baking, chopping and creating the delicious food ready for Saturdays Cafe. This hive of activity and creativity needs to be shouted about so I thought it was time we shared what treats are being cooked up in our kitchen here at Inkwell. We are busy working towards creating our new Summer menu and so have been busy testing and trying out new recipes. Our Mezze is the most popular dish at the moment and will most likely stay on the menu which I know some of our regulars will be pleased to hear!
Mezze Platter £4.95 - mixed wholesome salads with homemade felafel, feta wedge, pitta, olives, roasted peppers and houmous.
To compliment the Mezze we hope to bring you a North African version - The Moroccan Tapas Platter, with Aubergine caviar, Mediterranean salads, breads and Briouat (small Moroccan savoury pastry). Halloumi ( sometimes known as the vegetarian’s bacon) will be making a feature this summer too, we thought served with a lovely refreshing mint vinaigrette and cucumber slices with some pitta.
Briouat stuffed with spinach and feta.
As we move further into summer the garden is providing us with a bountiful supply of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs thanks to TCV ( The Conservation Volunteers). This week for example, a bumper crop of Kale and Spinach has led us to make some homemade Kale and Ricotta flatbread pizzas which we will serve up as a Special.
Inkwell vegetable patch
The herb garden
Kale and Ricotta Flatbread Pizza
Our talented volunteers have brought with them some unusual and tasty recipes too. Ever tried a Potato Chocolate fudge? Nor had we! We unanimously agreed it was truly delicious though. Paul, one of our new chefs, said it was an recipe passed down from his grandmothers Orkney cookbook. Now, we can’t seem to find out where potato fudge originates from so if anyone has any ideas we’d love to hear from you.
Vegetarian marshmallows are something else we will be looking at making to help us create that truly luxurious hot chocolate for our cafe. With the warmer weather here we are now serving Iced Teas, made with Fresh Mint from the garden or lemon served over a glass full of ice.
The kitchen is also used by Food Cycle once a month. Every first Saturday of the month they host a fabulous meal for everyone to enjoy. We are really excited about this partnership with Foodcycle whose mission is to build communities by combining volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create tasty, nutritious meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation.
We hope that you will be able to pop down and experience Inkwell Arts Cafe for yourself one day, enjoy a healthy meal, relax, have a coffee and have some fun making some art and crafts with us.
