Pavilion Bakery Will Stop Serving Meat

This morning, Pavilion Bakery owner Rob Green announced on their Instagram page that from Monday next week the sites will all be “meat free.” The sourdough bread specialists have three London locations — Victoria Park, Broadway Market and Columbia Road — as well as one in Newquay, Cornwall.

It comes as chefs and restaurateurs are growing increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of their work and in light of high-profile projects — Dan Barber’s wastED and Massimo Bottura’s Refettorio Felix — that have brought to the fore the issue of food waste. Rising meat costs as well as an effort to act more sustainably are forcing chefs and operators to approach menus in new ways. The main effect of Green’s decision will be felt at the original site in Victoria Park, where their focus is on Sri Lankan-influenced brunches and more traditional English cooked breakfasts. From next week, no more will there be BLTs, ham Benedict and hoppers with pork belly. Neither will their be their take on the fry-up.

In his post this morning, Green said, “Having debated and reduced meat products over several years I have finally decided to pull it completely and concentrate developing menus based around well sourced plant based products.”

He continued, “I have been running the Pavilion for ten years and feel the challenge of the next ten should be focusing on reducing waste, purchasing from organic growers, celebrating health through food within our beautiful community...We will continue to sell fish from Fish for Thought, our wonderful eggs from Rookery Farm, along side fantastic veggies from Chegworth valley and Perry Court Farm.”

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