Leeds’ latest coffee house is full of beans
A MONTH after opening its doors, Leeds’ newest independent venue is proving to be much more than your average coffee shop.
Established as a unique space to drink, eat, shop and engage, Union Coffee House offers a diverse mix of coffee, craft beers, wine, music, poetry and traditional hearty food. With links to Leeds College of Music, the venue also hosts classical pianists, jazz bands and singer, songwriters every week.
What’s more, everything in the venue is for sale, so if you take a fancy to the sofa you’re sitting on, or the table your coffee is resting on, you can take a piece of the venue home with you.
Founded by local husband-and-wife team, Vik Perrett and Chris Jackson, the venue was launched in the hope of bringing something different to a city they believed was lacking in interesting coffee shops.
Chris said: “We wanted to create flexible and versatile space that represented the rich diversity of a city like Leeds. We were really interested in blurring the lines between going somewhere to drink coffee, somewhere to drink alcohol and somewhere to eat dinner.
“We drew inspiration from European cities where the experiences aren’t clearly defined as one thing or another, they’re just open spaces.”
Since opening in December, the space has sold everything from books and pictures to lamps and tables, all the while raising money for St. Luke’s charity from where most of décor is sourced.
“We replace everything bought, so it’s a space where the décor changes to an extent and is kept interesting by doing so – it’s all about keeping our eye on a certain identity, a certain look that we think suits the place,” Chris added.
Having received positive feedback about the quirky décor, concept and atmosphere, Union Coffee House plans to host more live music nights and will be lending the space to pop-up restaurants as well.
In February, the coffee house will be hosting a Jamaican night, serving up authentic Caribbean cuisine as an expert takes over the space for the evening.
“We’re really just open to ideas, we want it to be a space that the community can use and see where that takes us and be led by that rather than trying to come up with a plan for exactly what we want to do,” Chris said.
