To the Manna Born
Matt McGuire takes a trip up Coombe Road in search of tasty sustenance for the body and soul
The festive season is now officially over (meaning, I think, that it is now sadly illegal to shoot jangling reindeer and/or carol singing preteens) and it’s time to make amends for all our foolish frolicking. As a nation our vitamins and inhibitions have been banished and replaced with liver ache and shame, and so it is to places like Manna that we should all repair.
Manna is a café for the soul, and it’s run by the effervescent Christine Hearn. “I love feeding people,” she says, with a grin. “I love fattening them up!”
Christine had never run a café before (“It was complete madness! I had no idea of the regulations or what was really involved!”), but had always liked the idea. Then three years ago she came across Coombe Road with its bona fide Victorian parade and fell in love with its olde world charm. “It’s such a great street – there are so few left like it,” she says. “Everything pointed to it being the right time to give it a go.”
“I love feeding people, I love fattening them up!”
It was also important for Manna to be an integral part of the local community. “I always wanted it to be a place where, say, if a kid ever got accidentally locked out of home, they could just rock up,” she smiles. And this friendly, family feel of the place is enhanced by the fact that Manna is often staffed by Christine’s own children.
Most of the fabulous food (including incredible cakes, delightful panninis and toasties, scrumptious soups, salads and more) is homemade and that which isn’t is locally sourced. “The bread’s from The Real Patisserie,” explains Christine, “and we get a lot of our veg by trading our cakes with folk on the allotments.”
They recycle and compost and are also as organic as their budget permits. “But no matter how ethical and green you want to be the price of purely organic produce is often prohibitive for small businesses,” she admits. “We’re really proud of the quality of food we provide, but sadly there have to be limits.”
The décor at Manna is homely and inviting too, all natural wood, pot plants and twinkling fairy lights. And in case that raises your post-Poppins heckles, please pipe down and remember the first rule of interior decoration: fairy lights are for life, not just for Christmas.
Christine Hearn, Manna café, 24 Coombe Road, Brighton BN2 4EA | Map
01273 620635
