Climatarian Kitchen café opens weekdays

Climatarian Kitchen is thrilled to announce our cafe is now open daily on weekdays. Effective immediately, Climatarian Kitchen’s food service will run Monday – Friday from 10am – 5pm from Waste Innovation Station Headquarters (WISH) in Kidlington. 

“We are thrilled to finally be able to expand our hours to provide delicious dishes using food using seasonal, surplus ingredients every day,” says Managing Director and Founder Dr. Emily L. Connally. “This builds on our regular Thursdays and Fridays lunches (supported by Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council) which reopened for the public following renovations in early 2025.

“Now less than a year after our massive overhaul we can stay open longer, not only for those who need daily food support but also for people who just want to stop in for a cup of tea and a chat.“

Climatarian Kitchen is a Cherwell Collective project that empowers the community to enjoy delicious food that is both healthy for the body and the environment. Read on to learn more about the café and what Climatarian Kitchen can offer you.

What to expect at Climatarian Kitchen’s café

The café menu 

Climatarian Kitchen food offerings are cooked entirely from surplus; meaning that all ingredients come from local grocery shops, food businesses, local growers, or community gardens. 

Our primary supplier is Oxford Food Hub, who collects from dozens of shops in Oxfordshire but we are also supported by our long term friends at Savona Foodservice. Savona are absolute waste warriors, making sure their food is not wasted, and support with nonfood infrastructure like foodsafe cleaning supplies. This helps us keep costs low so that we can pass those cost savings to our community. 

Our supply chain directly reduces waste in the community by drawing on items that would otherwise be unused and end up in landfill. 

Reliance on seasonal surplus brings an element of excitement to Climatarian Kitchen’s diners as well as our cooks: the menu is constantly changing! Although you can count on a set menu of plant-based and animal-based sandwiches, a soup, a pudding, and hot drinks each day, the specific contents of each dish change on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis, according to what comes in. Our delicious food is completely reliant on the creative vision of our wonderful chefs.

For example, there will always be a plant based sandwich available. One week the café’s plant based sandwich might be a bbq shredded jackfruit sandwich, while another week it might be a curried chickpea salad sandwich or even our house made banana peel bacon, lettuce, and tomato delights. If you’re wondering what is on the menu on a certain day, ask to join our WhatsApp group and get regular updates and photos of what’s cooking, literally!

Pay-what-you-can pricing

We want everyone to feel welcome at our tables. That’s why we have a pay-what-you-can policy; there are no set prices for menu items.

When our visitors pay-what-you-can, those who can afford to pay a little bit more help cover the costs for those who can’t afford to pay much. It’s a win-win for everyone involved and is core to Cherwell Collective’s ethos of creating a welcoming, inclusive space. We truly want everyone involved in reducing waste and tackling the climate crisis. 

You’ll notice that our menu has a Carbon Cost to the right of each item. This reflects the carbon footprint of that menu item in car miles. It shows how expensive the environmental cost is of growing and processing all the parts of that dish. In other words, how many miles you would need to drive in order to produce the same amount of emissions (and damage to the planet) as making that food.

We use the Carbon Cost of each dish to recommend your suggested donation. This makes dishes with a lower carbon footprint less expensive than ones with a higher carbon footprint.

The location

The daily Climatarian Kitchen café takes place in WISH, our community climate action space in Kidlington. 

WISH offers open seating with a variety of resources on display.

While you’re dining at our café, take a look at our hands-on exhibits that will help you learn actions you can take now to make a difference in reducing waste. Learn more about WISH here, or check out WISH’s upcoming activities here. 

Beyond the Cafe 

Activities

Climatarian Kitchen also spearheads activities to upskill the community and increase our collective knowledge. Click here to view upcoming activities run in conjunction with Climatarian Kitchen. We run workshops, courses, and cater events. 

We also offer corporate or private courses on Climatarian cooking. Please get in touch if this is of interest. 

Resources

We share our recipes, guides, and resources for free online. Let us know if there’s something you’d like to see!