Video: Cafe is in fashion according to Vogue

1:20pm Monday 22nd September 2008

Comments (3)   Have your say »

• Play Video

A DEPTFORD cafe created from a disused train carriage is the height of fashion after a magazine tipped it as unmissable.

The Deptford Project Cafe, in Deptford High Street, was cited by fashion magazine Vogue in their annual list of the 40 hottest people and trends to watch over the coming months.

The cafe bistro is housed in a converted train carriage and is the centrepiece of a regeneration of the area around Deptford station.

Cafe owner Rebecca Molina is overjoyed by the recognition her business has received by this month's magazine.

She said: "The cafe has a sense of anarchy to it and highlights how Deptford is a really creative area.

"People here are tapping into that creativity and there's this young energy about the place because of all the students living here.

"The cafe opened in June and represents the positive transformation of the area and is attracting more people to Deptford and the high street as a result."

The 1960s train carriage was recovered from a scrapheap in Essex and delivered to its current location on Valentine's Day.

Its transformation into a modern, trendy cafe, serving homemade British and international cuisine, is the first step of a regeneration project scheduled for completion in 2011.

Developer Cathedral Group is not surprised by the cafe's glowing reviews and believes the area could rival Camden for its art scene and market.

A spokesman for the group said: "It's the grooviest cafe in London. It's really unexpected and takes people aback when they see it. It's unique and there's nothing else like it.

"Deptford is just one stop from London Bridge and it's got all the ingredients to make it as popular as Camden."

According to the spokesman the cafe represents a glimpse of what the area will look like after the £55m regeneration project is complete.

Plans include a weekend arts market, shops and galleries, as well as a new residential building designed by prestigious architect Richard Rogers, who designed the O2 in north Greenwich.

For more information on the cafe and the regeneration project, visit thedeptfordproject.com

• To watch a video about the conversion of the cafe from a disused train carriage click here