Chef Tee wanted to help fellow care leavers to find a place in hospitality
(Picture: Sugarcane London)Londoners have raised more than £10,000 to save a Clapham restaurant that was burgled earlier this month.
The Caribbean kitchen Sugarcane said it was broken into and burgled on Tuesday January 11 pushing it to the brink of closure.
Damages included more than £600 taken from the tills, stolen food stock, a stolen laptop, smashed equipment and a broken shutter.
Owner of Sugarcane on Wandsworth Road locally known as Chef Tee said he initially felt “numb” and put on a brave face of professionalism for his staff who discovered the scene with him.
He said: “It wasn’t until later on in the night that I had a cry.
“The malicious side of it was that the kitchen was smashed to pieces. So many elements of [the restaurant] come from my house so that’s why for me it felt so intrusive.
“It was like my home that someone had broken in to.”
The restauranteur said his insurance would not pay out so repairs came from his own pocket.
He added: “I just spent about £10,000 repairing the fridges that were smashed, the microwaves and the safe and it wiped us out financially.
“Then because of the damage to the shutter we had to close again. At that point I was ready to give up.”
Neighbour and local food blogger Serena Vaughan decided to set up the GoFundMepage for Chef Tee who was admittedly “too humble” to ask for help.
The initial target of £1000 was raised in the first 24 hours. It was then quickly beat by £2000 and then an extended goal of £5000 on January 21.
Today, on the last day of the fundraiser, a total of £10,518 has been collected.
On the fundraising page she wrote: “Thank you to the community that have helped me keep T going.
“He has been able to restock and fix his kitchen, but he’s needed to pay for the window repair out of pocket.
“In typical fashion, he isn’t expecting any donations, and it would be nice to show him that we care!”
Chef Tee grew up in care and told the Standard how his restaurant takes on care leavers as a door into hospitality.
The 27-year-old hopes to use the money towards repairs, taking care of his staff and keeping his business afloat after some months of slow business due to Omicron.
