Help Paradise Cove return and restore the Queens Arms pub!

Chef Tee has had a rollercoaster of a journey with his iconic Caribbean restaurant. During its time on the Wandsworth Road Paradise Cove (nee Sugar Cane), where it stood for over 2 years it gained many and accolades and took to some really impressive social action. Jay Rayner wrote that sparkling review of it, they raised money for the Grenfell foundation, were nominated for Peoples Choice restaurant of the year award ’22, got a write up in Waitrose magazine, hosted a conference for John Lewis employees about how they can do more to support care leavers… There is so much substance to this restaurant which Chef Tee undertook all whilst serving some of the very best Caribbean food in London with his team. Sadly, at the beginning of 2023 Paradise Cove had to close due to the ever increasing costs of produce, energy bills and several legal dispute over tenancy and the original name.

Though Chef Tee was down, he is certainly not out and now he has come up with a plan to not only get Paradise Cove back on the menu, but to also save the historic Queens Arms in Battersea (St Philip Street) whilst he’s at it. The 180 year old pub has been closed since July last year and Chef Tee hopes to take over the space, restore it and to turn it into the 4th Caribbean pub in England. In true Paradise Cove style, there will be a lot more to it than just serving amazing Caribbean food. It’s going to be a not-for-profit organisation, and will do some incredible things for the community around it. There will be weekly cooking workshops for schools in Wandsworth and Lambeth, free meals during the holidays for children on FSM, weekly food donations to Brixton Soup Kitchen and Battersea’s Waste Not Want Not, they’ll be employing and training two care leavers with a level 2 qualification per year and so much more.

Of course, on top of that there will be service as usual from Chef Tee. His Caribbean food that captured the hearts of everyone that was lucky enough to try it is back on the menu in full force. This time there will even be brunch options and lunch specials, so whenever you want a taste of the sunshine it will be ready and waiting for you. Throughout the week there will be deals to tempt you down; think vegan Mondays, rum Tuesdays, unlimited wings on Wednesdays, quiz night Thursdays, live music events on Fridays and Saturdays and fortifying all day breakfasts and roasts on Sundays.

But they need some help to get started, and this is where you come in. It’s been agreed that whatever Paradise Cove raises in rent will be matched rent free- basically, the more they raise the longer rent-free time they’ll be able to spend at the Queens Arms. There is a Crowdfunder page up and running right now, and there’s only 6 weeks total time for the team to raise the £20K+ they need to start off their venture. Check it out and bag one of the donation rewards (discounted meals when they’re open) whilst they’re still available, or just give what you can to get this incredible project on its feet. Good luck to the Paradise Cove team, we are rooting for you.