Hidden London - Cable Café

SECRET SPOTS YOU HAVE TO DISCOVER

- MIKE DAW

Brixton Road, SW9

It can be hard in London to view development and change without scepticism. Recent news of the Smithfield market closure, slated for 2028, in favour of some gaudy billion-pound mixed-used apartment office lifestyle retail “concept”, brings with it ennui; a vague but unthreatening sadness over some lost sliver of London.

Changes in south London in particular can feel stark. Cheaper land and rents than our north-of-the-river cousins mean ever more improbably planned buildings can shoot upwards with speed and unpredictability. Christ, just look at Croydon.

But while the swish co-working spaces at Kennington Park (#myworkspace, #spacematters) popped up in all their shining newness in 2021, there are some refuges, defiant reminders of a city that remains less changed. The Cable Café, opposite that aforementioned manicured unit of work, is one such place. This venue isn’t merely a café: it’s a gateway into a London less talked about. A London of interconnected communities, be they part of the live jazz scene, the hospitality scene, workers from nearby supermarkets and repair shops on the Brixton Road and students who call this part of town home.

Out of time

The live music shows connect it to a network of venues across town where hot jazz, reggae, soul and bop are played nightly, for free, and the hospitality connects it to guests who don’t want to pay £4.25 for coffee; they seek succour in places where home cooking still takes centre stage.

Any accusations of misty-eyed wistfulness aren’t unwarranted, but sitting in the Cable Café during the day is one of the few joys to be found this close to Kennington Park.