Ebury by Fat Macy’s take-away – Good food and love the idea

We recently heard about a new opening in the area called Abbots Manor, kind of where Chelsea, Belgravia and Pimlico meet, half way between Victoria Station and Chelsea Bridge on Ebury Bridge Road.

I decided to stop by and check it out on one of my recent morning runs. The large, wooden, turquoise building sits just opposite London’s by far biggest recent development, the Chelsea Barracks. It’s impossible to miss it.

Ebury by Fat Macy’s opened about two months ago during the Covid lockdown. Due to the pandemic, they only offer take-away for now, and only a reduced menu focused on breakfast, lunch and coffee. I was the only customer at the time and was greeted very friendly by the two staff, who assisted me in choosing the right dishes for myself while I was sipping a pretty decent flat white (£2.40).

I opted for the spiced akkawi cheese sandwich with mint and green chili butter for £6 and the bacon sarnie with crunchy slaw and tomato harissa for £4. Moreover, I ordered the Breakfast in Beirut with homemade bread, labneh, za’atar, black olives, seasonal tomato salad, and a boiled egg for £7.

Ebury is Fat Macy’s first café. Fat Macy’s usually only do catering, office food deliveries, events, and supper clubs. The professionally trained, experienced staff take young people in temporary accommodation on board and teach them the skills needed in the hospitality industry. The charity helps the trainees to save for a deposit and move from hostels into their own small rented flats and flat-shares.

While I was waiting for my food, I had a quick look around the shelves and display tables inside the café, where fresh bread, canned goods, jars, bottles, dried goods and other foodstuffs were laid out. This neighbourhood deli only works with suppliers who are sustainable and socially responsible, such as Neal’s Yard, Borough Wines, and Rubies in the Rubble.

After ten or twelve minutes, I took receipt of a paper bag with the three cardboard boxes. I was on my merry way jogging the last 15 minutes back to the apartment. Ms B and I are both very good eaters and strongly believe in breakfast being the most important meal of the day. This meant that Ms B had steamed two artichokes and prepared two bowls of fruit, two smoothies and some orange juice.

We both enjoyed the food from Ebury. The bacon sarnie was not going to blow anyone’s shoes off, but provided a solid fill. The spiced akkawi cheese sandwich came with crunchy slaw and was quite tasty. Perhaps more cheese would have been ideal. I really enjoyed the Beirut Breakfast. The labneh was lovely, more like cream cheese than strained yogurt, I didn’t mind that there wasn’t much za’atar and I often prefer the green olives in the meal to the black ones on the menu. Equally the unannounced lettuce was highly welcome and the boiled egg was delicious, with the yolk still a bit runny.

On an unrelated side-note the artichokes with mayonnaise were a true delight too. This snack is so easy to make. Buy a globe artichoke or two. Clean them. Steam them for 15 to 20 minutes. Then peel the leaves off them and dunk them in mayonnaise before using your teeth to scratch out the meat towards the bottom of each leaf. We usually eat artichokes at least once a month and are never disappointed. The fruits were nice, too.

Were this about the food alone, then we’d give it a 3 out of 5. However, considering the great cause and the fact that this is a recent start-up that braved the Covid lockdown: 4 out of 5. We’ll be back for another sandwich or breakfast soon.

Looking for more food-related posts? Check out our article about poor people’s nosh that has turned posh, our mushroom cream pork medallions and our Sierra Leonean potato leaves plasa recipes, and the write-ups of that time when we enjoyed fine dining near the North Pole (Spitsbergen) or ordered cakes from Kova Patisserie in London.

For travel and adventure, feel welcome to eyeball our posts about Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Nepal, Norfolk, and our tries at skydiving, riding a powerboat, mountain biking and kayaking. One of our most popular posts is the one about the UK’s highest mountains.