Takeaways / zero waste
New zero-waste cafe and shop set to open in the Harbourside
“I want to offer people a way of reconnecting with food,” says Sonya Devi, leaning on the counter of The Vegetable Diva, a new zero-waste cafe and shop opening on Monday in a secluded spot in the Harbourside.
Sonya, the eponymous Vegetable Diva, recently completed a master’s in public health at the University of Bristol and grows produce on a four-acre smallholding in Somerset which will feature in her new cafe’s menu.
Located on the ground floor of the Invicta building on Millennium Promenade (above Broken Dock restaurant in the Harbour Inlet), the cafe will offer predominantly takeaway food, cooked by Sonya and chefs whose CVs include The Gallimaufry and Pinkmans.
Customers will be able to buy or rent tiffins or dabbas (metal lunchboxes) made by an artisan metalworker in Ahmedabad, a city in western India where Sonya’s cousin lives.
Tiffins and dabbas will be available for sale and to rent at The Vegetable Diva
Sonya, of mixed Indian and Dutch heritage, also envisages local residents bringing their plates to The Vegetable Diva if they want a cooked meal at home; and also bringing their own containers to buy the likes of rice, sugar and grains.
Breakfast options will include the likes of porridge, muffins and filled croissants, while lunch and dinner will include soups, salads and hot dishes inspired by recipes in well-leafed cookbooks on a couple of shelves in one corner.
“I feel a strong urge to provide really good quality food to the public, that has been cooked from fresh and is accessible to everybody without it having a noticeable impact on the environment,” Sonya says.
“I want to create a love affair of vegetables with people. Just to normalise it. It’s not something to do just because it’s really healthy. It should just be an everyday way of living.”
Read more: Breathing new life into the Harbour Inlet
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