Activists launch campaign to ‘shut down’ school dinner themed pop-up

The Round Chapel in Clapton. Photograph: Ewan Munro (Creative Commons)

Activists from campaign group Reclaim Hackney have launched a campaign to “shut down” a new school dinners themed pop-up restaurant.

After School Club is set to open on 22 July and offers “five courses of posh school dinners” at £55-a-head at the Round Chapel in Lower Clapton.

Reclaim Hackney, which was set up to “support and defend” Hackney residents who are “increasingly disenfranchised”, has called the pop-up “idiotic” in a borough where over 40 per cent of children are on free school meals.

After School Club was created by Hackney-based curators Art of Dining, whose co-founder Alice Hodge, a former resident of Homerton and a teacher for six years, said she was “devastated” by the criticism.

The ticket price includes an ‘Art and English lesson’ and a live theatrical performance, while guests will receive a pack including a school tie, homework and a White Russian cocktail inside a milk bottle. The five course dinner will feature a ‘packed lunch’ of pork belly focaccia with plum sauce.

Reclaim Hackney has created an event on Facebook and says it wants to use “imaginative and positive ways to shut down this event” and failing that intends to picket the event during its two-week run.

A campaign spokesperson said: “Those people who are foolish enough or rich enough to flaunt their wealth in one of the poorest boroughs of London need to learn the harsh realities many families in Hackney live in.”

Reclaim Hackney also plans to host a street kitchen outside the Round Chapel and says it has already “forced” the Art of Dining to donate £5 from every ticket sold to national child nutrition charity the Magic Breakfast.

Pop-up ‘misportrayed’

The Art of Dining’s Co-founder Alice Hodge told the Hackney Citizen: “We are devastated. We never meant to cause offence. We love Hackney and we support Hackney every day. We’re totally aware of the problem of poverty in the area.”

Co-founder and head chef Ellen Parr was similarly upset that the event had been “misportrayed” and said the Art of Dining had already been approached by the caterers for a school in Leeds to help “revamp” their menus.

She said: “We will be working with National School Meals week in the future, and we are pleased that lots of positive discussions have already come out of this.”

The controversy echoes last year’s debate over the Death Row Dinners pop-up, which was set to open in Hoxton Square until a tide of public outrage – including condemnation from Amnesty International and prisoners’ rights group Reprieve – caused it to be cancelled.

Previous events from the Art of Dining have included a Mike Leigh-themed 70s dining experience – named ‘Abigail’s Party’ after the 1977 film – and a ‘Servant’s Supper’, set in the staff quarters of a 17th-century manor house in Richmond.

General Manager of Magic Breakfast charity Alex Cunningham, said the Art of Dining’s £5 donation would buy 22 children breakfast.