f you haven’t been to Craving Coffee in Markfield road yet, you will after reading this. The atmosphere is warm, welcoming, anybody and everybody that walks through the door is greeted like a friend. There are works of art exhibited on a monthly basis so there’s always something new to see and be inspired by, too.
By day the coffee shop is a hive of activity with many of the local creatives in Tottenham gathering here to relax, work and of course grab a coffee. By night, the space is transformed into a twinkling wonderland of seriously tasty food.
Their Tottenham Social event hosts different food pop-up’s every week from Thursday to Saturday. The food represents the diverse and culture-rich environment of Tottenham itself (see below for the next six weeks of kitchen residents).
I spoke to John and Emma from Walthamstow Dogs, the gourmet hot dog pop-up hailing from, you guessed it, Walthamstow, who return this weekend. It all began with John having a post-beer hunger pang outside the Wildcar Brewery. Imagining “What do I want right now? What would I want to eat?” The answer was a hot dog. But not any hot dog would do, it needed to be great-quality, and there John saw a distinct gap in the market.
He had experience in markets and festivals but not in food. But John and Emma had both seen an explosion of creativity in E17 and wanted to create something in keeping with this. Their first pop-up was a three-month stint at Pillars Brewery, who were very supportive of the new venture, which really helped to galvanise their idea and propel them forwards.
Emma grew up in Walthamstow and has a great sense of pride in the local area and it’s people. It was essential from the very beginning that Walthamstow Dogs represented the local area and so all of the ingredients in their menu have been sourced from within one mile of Walthamstow. The dogs are supplied by the East London Sausage Company, free-range and hand-tied. All of the other fresh ingredients are sourced from the local market.
The hot dog menu is heavily influenced by the range of local cultures. As well as doing a Classic British Banger, they do a mean beetroot and horseradish dog inspired by the Eastern-European community and a lime, chilli, coriander dog inspired by the South-Asian community.
They also have a vegan hotdog which is cooked entirely separately from the meat products and packs the same punch as their other dogs. For their Tottenham Social Pop-up, they have expanded on their menu with the same ethos of taking something simple and doing it really well.
Forthcoming Tottenham Social Pop-ups
26th-28th April – Walthamstow Dogs – Gourmet Hot Dogs
3rd-5th May – Marli’s Kitchen – Vegan Soul Food
10th-12th May – Tangy’s Tasty Stuff – Bao Menu
17th-19th May – Caracas Baby– Venezuelan
24th-26th May – Teo Chew Kitchen – Singaporean
31st May – 2nd June – Pink Cactus
Words by Kira Shaw – Read more from Kira at Haringeybites