London’s unique charity-led restaurant gets a makeover

When Positive News visited Home Kitchen last year, the Primrose Hill restaurant was already doing something unusual. On the face of it, this was a polished north London dining room serving scallop ceviche, guinea fowl and monkfish from the former home of long-standing restaurant Odette’s. Behind the scenes, however, it was trying to prove that fine dining could open up new routes into work for people who had experienced homelessness.

Now the project has entered its next chapter. Home Kitchen Diner has relaunched as 130 Primrose, become a registered UK charity, and appointed Monica Galetti, the chef, broadcaster and MasterChef judge, as its executive chef and a trustee.

The restaurant, based at 130 Regent’s Park Road in Primrose Hill, opens on 8 May with a new name, a new menu and the same central mission: to recruit, train and employ people with lived experience of homelessness, offering paid work, accredited training and a stepping stone into long-term hospitality careers.

Seating 50 covers, 130 Primrose will be open seven days a week from 9am, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a relaxed, brasserie-style setting, with additional street-side seating. Its à la carte menu will draw on Mediterranean influences, with touches of Galetti’s Samoan heritage to be introduced later. At lunchtime, sandwiches and salads will also be available, while evenings will feature an additional charcuterie and cheese offering. A speakeasy-style cocktail bar is set to open on the lower ground floor later next month.

Galetti, who is also a regular volunteer at Soup Kitchen London, will shape the restaurant’s food and training offer, while head chef Eric Zhang will lead the kitchen full time.

“I’ve seen first-hand how, with the right support, people can rediscover hope, dignity and purpose through opportunities like this,” said Galetti.

“That’s why I didn’t hesitate when I was asked to help shape the culinary future of this incredible project. My first task is to create an exciting new menu that attracts customers to support our mission – celebrating the best British seasonal ingredients with a little twist of fun.

“Later, I’ll weave in touches of my Samoan heritage, giving our trainees a unique development opportunity and helping them to stand out when they move on in their career in hospitality.”

The restaurant first opened in 2024 as a social enterprise and operated for a year until August 2025, working with referral partners including Crisis, Beam, The Big Issue, Soup Kitchen London, Only A Pavement Away and the Beyond Food Foundation. Its first cohort included prison leavers, refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine, people in addiction recovery and others affected by homelessness.

Each employee at 130 Primrose will be offered a six-month contract as part of the front-of-house or kitchen team, with the opportunity to complete qualifications including food hygiene and allergen awareness certifications. Once they complete their time at the restaurant, they will be supported into further opportunities within hospitality.

I’ve seen first-hand how, with the right support, people can rediscover hope, dignity and purpose through opportunities like this

The previous incarnation of the project employed 16 people affected by homelessness, five of whom moved into permanent roles elsewhere in hospitality. The team behind 130 Primrose regard that as a success, but not the limit of what the model can achieve.

“Too often, people facing homelessness are excluded from work and written off by society – seen only for their circumstances, not their potential,” said Michael Brown, co-founder and trustee.

“At the same time, the hospitality industry, among many other challenges, faces a shortage of committed, qualified staff. We’ve started to close both gaps, to prove that talent can flourish anywhere and change perceptions. But we must do more. We must build on what we’ve learned and scale up to provide more opportunities for more people who need them.”

The name 130 Primrose is intended to signal that shift. While it takes its cue from the restaurant’s address, it also draws on the Latin phrase prima rosa, a symbol of spring and new beginnings. The charity says the name reflects its aim to foster renewal, confidence and lasting opportunity.

That sense of renewal is clearest in the stories of people who have already passed through the restaurant. Ade, a father of three and business graduate who had experienced street homelessness and hostel living, joined the kitchen team in August 2024. He has since moved into full-time employment with Soup Kitchen London and has maintained 18 months of continuous work.

Seb, a prison leaver who was released into homelessness, discovered a talent for cooking through the project. After joining the first cohort, he went on to work at the Megaro Hotel under Michelin-starred chef Adam Simmonds, who was Home Kitchen’s first executive chef.

We’ve started to close both gaps, to prove that talent can flourish anywhere and change perceptions

“These are people with an extraordinary life experience doing extraordinary things with the right support,” said Brown. “Employment brings dignity, belonging, and a future.”

The charity is now recruiting candidates through referrals from its partner organisations and says its longer-term ambition is to expand the model to cities across the UK. It hopes to become a recognised pipeline of skilled, diverse talent for the hospitality industry, while helping to reshape perceptions of homelessness.

The challenge now will be to prove that the concept can keep working not only as a powerful social intervention, but as a restaurant that people want to return to for the food. Galetti’s arrival should help on that front, though it is important that the story does not become only about a famous chef lending her name to a good cause. The real test will be whether diners come for the food and leave with a different understanding of homelessness, work and what people can do when given the chance.

As Positive News reported last year, the restaurant was never simply about charity. It was about standards, confidence, training and the belief that service can work both ways: guests are fed, and those serving them are given the chance to rebuild careers, routines and futures.

At 130 Primrose, that recipe is being refined. The new menu may be the hook, but the bigger offering is still opportunity.

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