New vegan food café and cheese deli in Inverness
Ella plans on doing workshops at some point inside Culture Cafe and Deli. Picture: James Mackenzie.
“I just want people to have access to clean, healthy plant-based food that tastes good”, says Ella Clarke. She’s the founder of Inverness’ newest ‘instagrammable’ food offering, Culture Café and Deli.
Based on Chapel Street, the zen-filled café and cheese deli officially opened last week, to provide locals and tourists with a purely vegan menu.
For 42-year-old Ella, opening a café has always been a dream of hers.
Ella Clarke, founder of Culture Cafe & Deli. Picture: James Mackenzie.
“25 years ago I fell in love with a café back home”, she explained, “It had so much community, jazz, great vegan food and amazing lattes. Ever since then I have wanted to have one of my own.
“Someone let me know that this space was coming up in Inverness, and it just felt like the right place and the right time, so I’ve gone for it.”
Café goers can expect a large range of vegan cheeses, doorstop-sized sourdough toasties, salads, burritos and soups. There are lots of cakes on offer too, that will satisfy anyone’s craving for something sweet.
Ella added: “So far the feedback from locals has been amazing. People seem really positive about having something new and different in town.
“There used to be Alleycat and Nourish in the city, and Velocity has lots of great vegan options too!
“But the idea of Culture Cafe was to be the Highland’s first vegan cheese deli, alongside having the café.”
All the cheeses in the cafe are made by Left Coast Culture. Picture: James Mackenzie.
All the vegan cheeses are hand-crafted by Ella’s other business, Left Coast Culture, which is based in the Belladrum estate.
However, this is more than just a café for Ella, as she wants to create a community experience for anyone who comes in.
She said: “I want people to get a cosy, welcoming vibe with great music when they come in.
“I really just want to bring people together around…
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