WHO WE ARE

My story. I’m Charlie, born and bred in Tunbridge Wells. I’ve always been passionate and curious about food. My curiosity evolved from my toddler days where ladybirds were a firm favourite, much to my family’s disgust, although, still, I’ll certainly try anything … 
Being of mixed heritage, my cooking style developed from a wealth of family favourites. My Grandparents are very much to thank for my thrift, zero waste approach to food.  Many a happy afternoon was spent with my Grandpa tending crops, harvesting and preparing home-grown vegetables for freezing, pickling or fermenting. Homebrew and elderflower wine are my earliest memories of foraging! 
My teenage jobs tended to be around food and hospitality from my first Saturday job at Lavender’s greengrocers to my kitchen portering at the Office Wine Bar, which led to my first dabblings in restaurant food service. I moved to North London in my 20’s which opened me to a more diverse variety of restaurants and foods to devour, alongside a demanding and extremely enjoyable job at Banner’s in Crouch End. At Banner's, I started out as a coffee girl, progressing to waitressing, bar tender and then onto manager. 
My return to Tunbridge Wells was closely followed by the arrival of my two sons, now teenagers! Family life dictated a more flexible job and I’ve run my small, successful gardening business for the last thirteen years. 
The food waste revolution is gathering momentum. For years I’d been waxing lyrical about saving supermarket surplus and how shameful it is that perfectly edible food is thrown away / incinerated / fed to animals when we have people on our doorstep struggling to put food on the table. Tunbridge Wells has a very real problem with food poverty, not to mention that an estimated 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed. Wouldn’t you prefer to eat food knowing you are helping rather than adding to the problem? I know I would. 
The idea for Charlie’s Angels Kitchens has been building. Sparked by my passion for reducing food waste coupled with my eclectic food tastes, it makes the perfect recipe for a café with an ever-changing menu of surplus ingredients providing ethical eats for the environmentally conscious consumer.