Churchyard cafe catches flak from residents over plans to serve up booze

The Quarter Kitchen is housed in small building in the churchyard. Photograph: Wikicommons

Cafe-goers might be able to buy an alcoholic drink to go with their cakes if a venue set in an old churchyard gets its way.

The Quarter Kitchen wants to serve booze from its base inside the former information centre at St John at Hackney Church between midday and 9pm daily.

The Hackney Central cafe opened last summer and offers up Mexican food. The owner previously ran The Quarter Store deli and coffee shop on the nearby Narrow Way.

The business is hoping to extend its current opening hours during the summer but in reality expects it will only stay open later on Fridays and Saturdays.

Its application said staff would be well trained about their responsibilities for selling alcohol and customers would have to be seated.

The venue also said it would take steps to stop people leaving the site if they are drinking alcohol.

Two objectors told the council they are concerned it would lead to more street drinkers in the area.

One said the eatery is by a popular pedestrian thoroughfare and “it is not appropriate to have alcohol served here”.

The same unnamed resident added: “It is a very divisive issue and lots of park users will be deeply offended by it – elderly people who view the space as sacred because of the graves there, and other cultural groups who would feel this is inappropriate in public open space.”

They also said there are signs up discouraging drinking and this rule should apply to everyone.

“This is Hackney and either everyone or no-one can do it. And in this instance, because of the space being a churchyard and small, it should be no drinking here at all.”

Owner Max Fishman said in a submission to the licensing committee that he was aware of street drinking and drug issues in the area.

“I do not however believe that awarding us a licence to drink on the premises will have any impact on those already engaging in antisocial behaviour in the area,” he added.

He said it may even help tackle the problem if the cafe attracts more people, making it “feel safer walking through the area later into the evenings”.

Fishman noted that signs banning drinking in the churchyard were put up by the church and are not council policy, pointing to the nearby Hackney Tap’s alcohol licence. That bar’s customers also use the public toilets nearby, he said.

He said the busiest hours for selling alcohol are likely to be in the evenings, when the playground close by is shut.

Fishman added: “Whilst I understand that people may have different views as to what is or is not appropriate in the setting, I would note that the surrounding graves are many hundreds of years old.”

Hackney’s licensing committee will consider the application next Tuesday.

Update: this article was amended at 6.02pm on 25 May 2023 to make clear that there were two objectors.