Why plant-based cafe The Crow Spotter at The Retreat in Christchurch doesn't want to be known as a vegan site

AS the only plant-based cafe in Christchurch, The Crow Spotter is passionate about providing tasty and nutritious meals – but it is wary of being associated with the practice of veganism.

The eatery, which is part of The Retreat on the A35 at Hinton, was born out of owner Candida Meyrick’s vision for a community space offering healthy food to energise and satisfy.

Following a cancer diagnosis, Candida transformed her diet and is now an advocate of plant-based food.

The Retreat, which bills itself as the “home of wellbeing”, is owned by wealthy landowner the Meyrick Estate and hosts yoga, pilates, meditation and mindfulness classes and workshops.

As well as The Crow Spotter, the site is home to Offbeet, an innovative vegan restaurant run by head chef Peter Axworthy.

Mark Kilpatrick, The Retreat’s co-director, said many of The Crow Spotter’s customers are not vegan, and believes the notion of veganism can be “divisive”.

“We don’t use that word in any of our marketing,” he continued. “It can be tense and pressurising and we want to be inclusive, so we prefer to call ourselves a plant-based establishment.”

Along with his co-directors, brothers Will and George Firmin, Mark is not vegan and wants to avoid the appearance of expectations on others.

Mark said: “The vast majority of our customers are not vegan – they come in because our food is healthy and tasty and our team is great and we have a fantastic ambience. Being non-vegans, we would never push a way of eating on anyone.

“You can go one of two ways when it comes to a plant-based restaurant. You can be like Offbeet and offer dishes that imitate meat – and I take my hat off to Pete and his team because they are incredible at what they do – or you can provide dishes that stand up on their own and in their own right, and that’s what we do.”

The Crow Spotter caters for the many groups which use the centre as well as the loyal walk-in customers who keep coming back for the quality of the food.

“This is a dynamic place,” said Mark. “On the one hand we are serving guests taking part in the classes, who really just want nourishment – food that is easily digestible with no gluten and no spice.

“And then we are catering for our regular customers, who come here not because we are plant-based but because we serve delicious, nutritious food that just happens to be plant-based.

“It’s a huge balancing act and a real credit to the team.”

Typical dishes on the menu are homemade soups served with sourdough, lentil dahl served with coconut yoghurt, chutney and seasonal salad, and harissa pulled-mushroom sandwich with slaw and hummus.

Big efforts are made to source ingredients from local producers, including Lightfoots Farm based in Hordle, New Forest Wild and Exotic Mushrooms, Bakehouse24, which has bakeries in Ringwood, Lyndhurst and Southbourne, and the Love Organic fruit and veg market in Ringwood.

“Our rule of thumb is that if we can’t get food locally like, for example, lemons and limes, it had better be organic and if it’s not organic it has to be local,” explained Mark.

The trio’s plan is to open multiple sites like The Retreat at other locations.

“First, though, this place would have to survive without us being here,” said Mark. “But we would be looking at places like Southbourne, Westbourne or Canford Cliffs.”

He added: “People are really paying attention to their bodies now and it’s great that people come here and trust that we are going to serve them food that is truly good for them. We offer a haven for people who want to implement change.”

Will is The Crow Spotter’s chef and also works with Pete at Offbeet. George is a trained barrista who has worked in Melbourne and London.

Mark and Will have been friends since they were just three years old, and live together in Boscombe. George is living in Christchurch.

The name of the cafe was inspired by the many crows the brothers spotted at Stanpit Marsh, where they lived on first moving to the area.

“The country was in lockdown at the time,” explained Mark. “There weren’t many people to be seen on the marshes during that time but there were lots of crows.”

The site’s owner, the Meyrick family, owns and manages vast swathes of land in Bransgore and Hinton as well as large areas of Bournemouth – including much of the seafront.

For more information about The Retreat, visit www.theretreatnewforest.co.uk