Healthy eating café catering for the ‘whole community’ to open in Darlington

A new healthy eating café which caters for the whole community is to open in Darlington this weekend following a successful soft launch.

Meet N Marrow, at Firthmoor Community Centre, is the brainchild of Nicola Patterson, 35, and friend and business partner Axel Tucker, 32.

The Darlington resident explained to The Northern Echo how the idea for the café came about.

Nicola and Axel in the kitchen(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

She said: “About two-and-a-half years ago, I was working in a SEN school. I went to Bali on my own for three weeks and got really poorly towards the end of the trip. I have always been quite health-conscious, and, well, I nearly died, and I was on an IV drip, but I think it just sparked something in me.

“I thought I need to have a look at my health properly. You can eat all the protein bars you want, but are people actually healthy? So, I did my nutrition course a while ago, and I just started doing so much research.

“I found out so much stuff through the courses that I did, and I just left my job and set up my own nutritional company to help people claim their health back and feel better in themselves.”

Some of the items on the menu at Meet N Marrow(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Nicola and Axel soft-launched the café on Saturday (September 13), and despite some nerves the night before as to how it would go, Nicola said it could not have gone better.

Nicola, who used to work as a teacher in Thailand, said: “The opening went so well. I had that feeling you have when you organise a birthday party and are worried no one is going to show up, that’s how nervous I was. It was amazing, so lovely.”

Nicola and Axel, who have known each other since childhood, share a love of healthy eating and follow the same lifestyle. After both overcoming difficult periods in their lives, the pair wanted to open a place that serves “real food”.

(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Nicola told the Echo: “We used to be absolute wrong uns and now neither of us drinks and we have completely changed our lives around. I think that is why people listen to us, because it is not patronising.

“We have actually been there, we know what it feels like to feel like crap. And I would always take advice from someone who has done it rather than someone who is sat there saying ‘I can imagine what that feels like’.”

The food in the café caters for all ages, from young children to adults. Meet N Marrow even feeds the nursery in the community centre from Monday – Friday.

Solomon McLean, who is six-months old, at the soft launch of Meet N Marrow(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

And Nicola said she is very proud of the food they serve, with it all being homemade. She was also full of praise for her team of chefs after the soft launch.

She said: “I want to praise our chefs, who were absolutely amazing yesterday. They will also be putting recipes online too so if anyone wants to try them at home, they can. And everything is homemade, down to the butter and baked beans, which is something we are really proud of.”

Axel, who has two children and works on oil rigs, is hugely thankful to Nicola for teaching him about how to improve diets.

He said: “Nicola is a life-changing nutritional advisor teaching me every aspect regarding diet, from fatigue to menstrual pain.

“She has changed the lives of many people, although she won’t gloat.”

The café also offers Sunday lunches and will be collecting tins of food for the community centre between 9am and 1pm every day.

But Nicola said a lot of it would not have been possible without the support of Councillor Jonathan Dulston from Darlington Borough Council and Paul Hutchinson from Firthmoor Community Centre.

(Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

“It was Councillor Dulston on Darlington Borough Council who gave us the opportunity we needed to open the café where it is and give something to the community, give people a chance to come in and be part of something really special,” she said.

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Nicola added: “Jonathan believed in us so much. Meet N Marrow is more of a mission rather than a business. It is about education, community, healthy eating.”

Cllr Dulston said: “I was approached by Nicola and Axel a couple of months ago to explore how they can promote healthy choices across the borough, and how to deliver more education around food to young people.

Those conversations were positive, and I started the process of putting them in touch with the nursery at Firthmoor Community Centre, where they began to educate staff and parents on a healthy nature.

Meet N Marrow opens officially this week, and I’m really excited to see Nicola and Axel start their journey.”

Nicola said Paul Hutchinson backed Jonathan in allowing the cafe to cater towards children and “provide quality nutrients that will help every aspect of their lives.”

Meet N Marrow opens to the public on Saturday, September 20.