Deli Downstairs adds spice to Victoria Park

Deli owner Theo Fraser Steele in his Victoria Park shop.Photograph: Tim Sullivan

Sitting on the roundabout halfway down Victoria Park Road, The Deli Downstairs proudly bears its name on a smart black and white swinging sign.  And it’s got a lot to be proud of too, having recently come second in the Olives et al Deli of the Year competition.

Looking around the wooden shelves crammed full of interesting spices and baskets overflowing with organic produce, it’s not difficult to see why. Originally underneath another shop across the road (hence the name) the deli has been in its new home for about a year now.

Light and airy with broad, bleached floorboards, the Victorian building also hid a secret treasure.  During renovations, a frieze of stickers from Edwardian biscuit tin lids was discovered behind a false wall.  A trawl through the archives revealed that the shop was originally a grocers and the husband and wife team behind the Deli are proud to have restored it to its original purposes. A sepia photo on the wall shows the property as it was, with perhaps the very people who originally created the frieze standing outside the shop.

This is just one of many touches which key the ship into its local environment.  Many of the goods on offer are the result of customer requests and observations about what the area was lacking.  In fact the whole shop was borne of a realisation that Victoria Park was poorly served for certain ingredients.

After years of journeying to central London to find produce, ebullient owner Theo – a former chef – set about bringing delicacies much closer to home. “One day I sat own and made a shopping list of everything I wanted to buy and would go into central London for,” he says. “That was basically everything I started off buying for the shop, and it all grew from there.”

Today the range he stocks is certainly broad:  a huge selection of cheeses and continental meats sit in a counter stuffed with olives, fresh pesto and a whole host of other tasty things.  A mouth-watering selection of fresh quiches and cakes baked on-site offer quick options to take to nearby Victoria Park, whilst a range of pulses and pickles can be taken home for cooking something a little more complicated.

There’s everyday fare too – milk, eggs and bread are all available (albeit a very artisan sort of bread). With half a dozen organic eggs for £1.50, prices are comparable to some supermarkets and the shopping experience is a great deal more pleasant too.

The Deli Downstairs
211 Victoria Park Road
E9 7JN

Tel: 020 8533 5006
Twitter: @thedelidownstairs

Related: Victoria Park: a history