Frome’s community restaurant returns this month with vision for a sustainable future

Frome’s pop-up community restaurant Canteen is back this autumn and winter, with four Tuesday events that we’re hoping could be the beginning of an ongoing monthly series.

Over its last eight pop-ups, Canteen has served more than 1,000 local people from all walks of life. Now the work begins on making Canteen — a project based on solidarity, community, and resilience — a self-sustaining initiative. Can we run a pay-what-you-can restaurant in a way that’s not for profit, but also not relying on funding to cover losses?

These next four pop-ups will help us figure that out. Canteen relies on some people voluntarily paying more than the cost price of a meal, and offering donations (see webpage), to help subsidise meals for local people who can’t afford them. The Canteen organisers are passionate about making delicious locally sourced food affordable to all.

Meanwhile, a £2,500 from Somerset Community Grants Fund is sponsoring a ‘Canteen blueprint’ that other communities across the UK can use to set up their own restaurant. This involves thinking about the entire Canteen project as an investment in community — not just of local citizens, but of growers, farmers, and other communities that could ultimately benefit.

Canteen returns with the affordable, convivial, seasonal, and local ethos, serving food such as pies, stews, ragus, and curries – hearty and wholesome and cooked by some of the area’s best chefs, with nostalgic puddings like blackcurrant fool, apple crumble, and trifle also making a return. Diners can check Canteen’s website or social media for a full menu a week prior to an event.

Canteen returns for its next run of pop-ups on the following Tuesdays at Trinity Hall (BA11 3DE): 27th October, 24th November, 19th January, and 16th February. Food is served 5pm-7pm, or until it runs out. No reservation needed – just turn up.

fromefoodnetwork.co.uk/canteen for further info.