A group of Bangladeshi women have been training collectively and hosting tasting sessions in London to prepare for the launch of a first-of-its-kind all-female-run café named TATI: Brick Lane Community Cafe.
TATI is conceived as a social enterprise led by Bangladeshi-origin women in Brick Lane, the east London hub referred to as Bangla Town because of its overwhelming Bangladeshi population. The cafe is inspired by real Bangla food, which is home-made, sustainable and organic.
“TATI wants to bring 'Bangla culture' back into the heart of Bangla Town/Brick Lane,” says Oitij-jo Collective, a not-for-profit organisation which secured crowdfunding to kick-start the project earlier this year. Some of the funding also came from the Mayor of London, besides a series of individual donors.
“TATI is a cafe where you experience Bangla home cooking wisdom by bringing together the women who cook family recipes at home with young people to train, teach and gain confidence sharing Bangla hospitality and culture,” adds Oitij-jo Collective.
Dozens of London-based Bangladeshi women are working collectively on the concept and are now on the lookout for investors who would support them to hire a permanent multipurpose space. Their mission is to promote authentic Bangla food and dispel the myth around mass-produced curries served up in some outdated restaurants as Bangla curry.
“If we can open this cafe, then women will finally feel like they have something of their own that they have achieved, a place that’s local where we can show people what Bangladeshi food and culture is really about while having a safe space that we can go to so we finally feel like we belong in Brick Lane,” explained one of the women behind the culinary cause.
Oitij-jo Collective says it believes the women are skilled through their life experiences, knowledge and skills in cooking, managing a home and their children. TATI is conceived as a professional kitchen and positive safe environment for the women to learn new skills, receive training and interact with the wide range of customers who frequent Brick Lane.