Sohaila on Shoreditch High Street looks and feels about as comfortable and unassuming as any other restaurant nearby. The walls are naked, save for a hodgepodge of artworks loosely curated by the co-founders Meg Doherty and Nathalie Moukarzel; the tables and chairs are a shade of bare wood that look at once chic and slightly retro; the downstairs bar is lit by harsh strip lights until the evening, when amber hues thankfully take over.
My service at Sohaila is a short one: a single, influential lunchtime table of just six diners. But the Lebanese-leaning fare isn’t the only reason this Shoreditch restaurant is my home for the day — this enterprise is a purpose driven one.
Sohaila as a restaurant exists as the catering arm of the charity Fat Macy’s, and calls itself “a mission-driven wine bar and restaurant” — the mission being to serve food and drink, while training up those homeless, or at risk of homelessness.
“Our restaurant provides a 200-hour work experience programme where trainees can learn valuable culinary and hospitality skills from our professional chefs and front-of-house teams,” the website reads, “combined with 1:1 holistic support to build a stable life.” Many of the trainees who come through the doors are already sleeping rough, others are in hostels having lost their home. Sohaila gives them work, and a purpose. It’s directly supported by StreetSmart, the scheme that raises millions via a £1 bill donation on bills in restaurants across the country.
Fat Macy’s and Sohaila are sister projects, each relying on the other's success for growth, both founded by Doherty and Moukarzel. I don an apron and get the grand tour.
There’s an immediately perceptible air that Doherty and Moukarzel are both only just holding this thing together with their bare hands. The Shoreditch building is technically a condemned one, but for the moment Sohaila will continue to operate (fully legally) as it has these past few years. Still, I’m told a move to a more stable, permanent space is probably on the cards.
The office above is pleasant and bright. It acts as a hub for the Sohaila trainees, who are undertaking the training program. Doherty and Moukarzel tell me stories of lawyers and medical students who have passed through their doors — a reminder that anybody can become homeless.
We talk about wine and projects and the 200-hour program and what’s next for the restaurant. I make my way into the kitchen for some lunch prep, but am told that one of the trainees coming in would rather not speak to me. I’m suddenly conscious that I’m not just intruding into a kitchen for a column, but into real people's lives.
I meet Doug. Doug is a chef of some talent; not least for his exemplary understanding of cookery, but his mentoring abilities too. As I wash, peel, chop and generally go about odd jobs, mostly concerning various alliums, he tells me of his volunteering time at university, of his years spent at Brawn, the restaurant on Columbia Road, and his desire to support those in need.
Hearing him makes it clear that this is more than a restaurant. Before my lunch shift I'd presumed the trainees would be gearing up for a career in hospitality — but it goes beyond that. This restaurant offers vulnerable people the building blocks of everyday living: accountability, responsibility, motivation, teamwork and hopefully fulfilment. Sohaila is offering both transferable skills and a course in getting the basics right. Those who complete the program have access to a grant for a deposit on a rented flat, which offers a tangible route away from a life on the streets.
The 200-hour program could easily be rolled out to other restaurants. A deal with Nando’s to put one trainee in each of its London restaurants recently fell through, but Doherty and Moukarzel remain optimistic about expanding their outreach and impact.
We serve the lunch table their hearty pickle soup, the vine leaves stuffed with lamb, the richly-roasted Delica pumpkin and the muhallabieh dessert as we talk about the impact an idea like this could grow to have. And as we do, all I can think to myself is: what Sohaila offers is nothing short of miraculous.
The day in numbers:
Trainees met: Three
Covers for lunch: Six
Funds raised through StreetSmart for Fat Macy’s: £30,000
Lebanese pickle soups eaten: One (and it was delicious)
