Words Billie Brand
Photography Elliot Sheppard
Production Harry Cave

“Seasonal, sustainable, local: I became obsessed with interrogating these buzzwords,” says architect-turned-restaurateur Elly Ward. “Like architecture, there’s a lot of greenwashing in the food industry. It’s easy to say things and not mean it. I wanted to make those words count.” That was the starting point for Edit: the minimal-impact vegan restaurant doing things differently. Perhaps the first thing that sets it apart is the striking scarlet floor – a colour not commonly associated with green eating. “I’m not interested in eco aesthetics,” she continues. The daily changing low-waste menu, created by head chef Beth Olivier, is also a far cry from those championed by other plant-based eateries. “We’ve never even had tofu on the menu,” says Elly. Instead, fermented pickles, almond feta, reindeer moss and flamingo peas are among the ingredients packing a punch on your plate here.

Elly and Beth, who are both vegan and share the same enthusiasm for bettering the environment, wanted Edit’s design to echo their ethos. And who better to help with the project, thought Elly, than her architect husband, Joe Morris, founder of the practice Morris + Company next door? So the couple set about creating a scheme that’s contemporary and – crucially – circular, featuring restored brick walls, rescued terracotta tiles and second-hand furniture (“the mid-century sideboard by the entrance belonged to my grandmother,” Elly reveals). As for that red floor? It’s made from screed, topped with a water-based resin – and it runs underfoot in Joe’s studio too. As Elly explains, “we wanted a physical connection between the spaces,” which is cemented by the internal windows that allow curious diners the chance to peek inside a working practice. Naturally, we’re a fan.

Here, Elly and Beth sit down to talk about the roots of their restaurant and the simple pleasures of pickling and preserving. Plus, Beth shares a recipe for spring green cabbage rolls with haggis and smoked beetroot purée.

Beth: “I grew up in a big family in Herefordshire, near Wales. I’m one of four children and my parents raised us all vegetarian. Everything was home cooked – and that stuck with me. We’d have a Sunday roast every week; my mother’s been making the same nut roast for 20 years – it’s a classic – and I love anything with lots of mushrooms. We’d eat lots of organic vegetables too and my parents always involved us in the cooking. From the age of 11, my siblings and I were taking turns making weekly meals.

“I became vegan when I went to university. I already knew about the implications of animal agriculture, but I didn’t know about the environmental impact of it – and that shocked me. It felt like something had been left out of the conversation I’d had at home. This was in 2014, so veganism hadn’t boomed yet, but once I had the facts, I became vegan overnight. Most of my family followed suit – it felt like a natural progression for us.

“Around that time, I was cooking for myself a lot, but cheffing was never the plan. I left university with an English degree and began looking for a job. I saw a local vegan pub was hiring someone to wash dishes, which I thought looked fun – even though my parents were like: ‘What are you doing?!’ I got the job and quickly fell in love with being in a kitchen.”

Elly: “I became vegan six years ago now. I was increasingly having eco-anxiety and becoming more aware of environmental issues. Veganism suddenly started to gain popularity – there were lots of plant-based restaurants popping up and lots of people were talking about it. Joe and I had finished a heavy year of partying after our wedding and thought: ‘Let’s go on a health kick.’ Like Beth, we both became vegan overnight.

“When you go vegan, you have to learn a lot about what you’re eating. We read about it, watched documentaries about it, researched it on the internet… Suddenly we were part of a world we never knew about. We also learned that along with the poor treatment of animals, the food industry has a negative impact on the planet too. From then, there was no going back for us.

“When it came to cooking at home, we started experimenting with simple dishes such as curries and pasta. One of the meals we first discovered could be fun for vegans was breakfast. Joe and I are both really into brunch. We’ve spent a lot of time mastering scrambled tofu – and now we love it. It’s our weekend treat.

“Veganism also brought up a lot of questions for me. As an architect, I knew that building creates a huge amount of waste – especially regarding materials. It’s quite difficult to have a positive impact on the planet because there is a huge supply chain and lots of people involved. Meanwhile, with food, the impact you can make is almost immediate. Realising this, I left my old practice and opened a gallery/social space on Columbia Road. I got a coffee machine and began selling vegan cakes, which people were interested in.

“I then set up a brunch-focused plant-based cafe called Super Nature on Hackney Road, which opened in August 2020. Beth joined the team and together we became fascinated with produce and provenance. We developed an evening menu at Super Nature but felt like it needed a different setting to make it sing – and then this space, which used to be a restaurant, became available. We thought it was a good opportunity to switch things up. We gave the venture a new name – Edit – and took the menu to the next level.

“This also offered the architect in me the chance to create an environment. Because I was living a low-impact lifestyle, I needed the design to reflect the same principles. I wanted to work with people who make things slowly by hand, minimising as much waste as possible to create an environment that people enjoy. We salvaged brick walls and cast-iron columns from the restaurant before, which we’ve left exposed, while the bathrooms feature recycled cork and iron taps that were in the old bar here. The whole place is full of little details with stories behind them.”

Beth: “I was excited by the opportunity to do what we were doing at Super Nature but with much clearer intentions. Here, we really let the seasons dictate the menu. We work closely with farmers and suppliers, which means we have to be reactive. For example, if there’s a bad harvest, we won’t be able to get certain ingredients. This year, the seasons have been starting late, as last summer was so hot. A lot of products have either been more expensive or less available. That has impacted our menu planning. But we listen to our suppliers when they say: ‘Wild garlic is peaking.’ We’ll order loads and preserve it. Every week, we’re waiting for amazing new ingredients. Each has a small window of availability, which makes it feel really special.

“My advice to those interested in low waste would be to remember there’s always something you can do with leftover ingredients. We’ve been building our own pantry by pickling and fermenting things like root-vegetable skins. The longer you work in this way, the more you get used to it too. It doesn’t feel restrictive. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to experiment – now, I’m always putting stuff in pickle brine.  I’ve been on a personal journey with zero-waste. It’s a really joyous thing.”

Beth’s recipe for spring green cabbage rolls with haggis and smoked beetroot purée

Serves two

For the beetroot purée

For the haggis

125g dried green lentil
250g white onions, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150g carrots, peeled and diced
150g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
75g walnuts, crushed
25g fava bean paste (you can substitute soy sauce)
250ml vegetable stock
15ml lemon juice
2tsp thyme (either fresh or dried)
125g oats (we use gluten-free)
125g quinoa flakes (you can substitute with more oats)
125ml rapeseed oil
15g smoked rapeseed oil
1tsp salt
1tsp ras el hanout

For the cabbage rolls

1 medium-sized spring green cabbage
Olive oil
Sea salt
Your haggis mix
Garnish of your choice