Counter culture: Co-owner Liam Casey. Photograph: Tim Sullivan

In late June, the Pacific Social Club opened its doors on Clarence Road, an unassuming little street just off Dalston Lane on the borders of Lower Clapton and Hackney Central.

Little did co-owners Liam Casey and Nico Atwater know what would befall the road in a few weeks’ time.

Both Casey and Atwater live locally and they had identified the need for good coffee in the area. The name, Atwater said, came from “a love for the islands in the Pacific”.

Then in early August as an already cool summer took a turn toward autumn, the pair found their fledgling venture at the heart of riots whose Hackney epicentre was Clarence Road.

It all kicked off on Monday 8 August, Casey recalls: “The police came around 1pm and told us they were expecting trouble. We got our shutters down and got out of here”.

“We came back at 6am [on Tuesday] fully expecting the place to be in ashes.”  However, The Pacific Social Club was left largely untouched by the riots which ravaged other parts of the street.

Whilst criticism of politicians has persisted, Casey says the sense of community has grown in the area.  “Everyone’s looking out for each other. The Tuesday after it happened there was a really nice atmosphere.”

A strange start to the life of a new business, perhaps, but the experience of the riots appears to have helped root the new café in the local community and to develop the street’s sense of camaraderie.

The Pacific is also a welcome addition to this part of town as a purveyor of coffee and food. The menu is modest and set to change regularly as they aim to source seasonal produce from local suppliers. Some of their ingredients have come from Ridley Road Market and come together to create a selection of genuinely interesting sandwiches.

I tried the lemon avocado with dukkah on a couple of slices of olive bread. It was a fine mix of flavours and the olives pleasantly made themselves known. Both the parma ham, fig and gorgonzola sandwich and the roast pepper, blue cheese and hummus on seeded toast were mighty tempting too.

On my next visit, I had an aesthetically perfect and flavoursome flat white followed by walnut carrot cake with pineapple, and a butter-cream topping. Beautiful.

The Pacific also offers savoury snacks, like Vietnamese summer rolls, and there is a small assortment of cakes and pastries present.

The best seats in the house are on the light, tiled area in the window. The cafe has chosen individual, modish furnishings, crockery and spoons (great spoons) and is decorated with matchboxes and vinyl sleeves from history.
The record player sets the mood in the venue and events are to be scheduled, making this more than a cafe. Casey said: “My friend’s got a recording studio in the basement. We’re trying to do a lot of music-based things and trying to start a mixtape label.”

A fundraiser for Japan that had originally been planned at the Pacific for late August has been put back to Saturday 17 September as the focus has now shifted to helping local businesses who were badly affected as a result of theft and damage during the riots.

These include Siva Kandiah of Clarence Convenience Store, where the till was emptied and stock was taken on the night of the worst rioting. The shopkeeper would have been facing ruin, says Casey, without the support of his neighbours and the local authority.

“The local council paid for all the work to be done on his shop and they were there straight away the following morning, which is wonderful. I’ve never been much of a fan of Hackney Council but they were on it. They were up here every day sorting it out for him.”

The Pacific Social Club
8 Clarence Road
Hackney
E5 8HB