For three weeks in November 2024 (5 – 23) a simplified version of Angela’s menu will be available at the Tracey Emin-backed The Perfect Place to Grow in the North Kent seaside town’s Cliftonville area.
Some of the dishes will be inspired by the work The Perfect Place to Grow has done with young refugees in Margate, alongside dishes created by trainees from Thanet.
Based within a disused Victorian morgue that was once home to Emin’s art school, The Perfect Place to Grow was set up last year by Angela’s owner Lee Coad.
“This project is happening exactly a year on from myself and Harry (Ryder, of Margate’s Bottega Caruso) launching the project. The training kitchen is only open sporadically so it’s the first time we’ve done anything like it. It’s designed to show people what we are doing and raise funds,” says Coad, who also runs the more casual Dory’s.
Thanet has the second highest youth unemployment rate in the South East at 9.3%. The number of young people out of work is even higher in the Cliftonville ward, which is one of the top 10 most deprived areas of the whole country.
“There are a lot of good restaurants in Margate and we get a lot of visitors but there are problems here that we are looking to address,” Coad continues. “The Perfect Place to Grow is there to support young people into work. What I guess sets us apart is that we don’t necessarily want these people to work in restaurants.”
“We’re not creating chefs. We’re using food to support people into work by helping them build confidence and acquire skills. We use the local food chain to offer a breadth of experiences – whether that is at a farm, a dairy, a fishing boat or a brewery – in order to truly inspire them and to encourage positive work life choices.”
Angela’s has been listed on Restaurant’s list of the top 100 places to eat in the UK as well as holding a Michelin Green Star.
