Ben's House: Cafe @ Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery

Having drunk a lot of fine teas and held a lot of happy meetings at Ben's House, Rebecca Hossack and local coffee shop owner and grocer Ben became firm friends. 

Rebecca, who first opened her Fitzrovia art galleries in 1988, became Ben's first port of call when looking for a new venue, as his Grafton Way premises was redeveloped into flats. With their shared appreciation for the hand-made and beautifully-crafted, a mutual desire to celebrate individuality and innovation, and a love of Fitzrovia, there seemed no better place for Ben to set up home than Rebecca’s flagship gallery on nearby Conway Street.

It is a place where everything is cured, created, crafted in London - gins from Kentish Town, wines from Fulham, sodas from Hackney, honeys from rooftops, hot sauces from Dalston and craft beers from every metropolitan corner. These are the artisan products that food writers are always encouraging us to try, but which are never stocked at the local corner shop.

Ben's House first opened in Fitzrovia in the autumn of 2014. The world’s first city-centric grocery and café, it quickly became an institution. Ben knows every craftsman of note, and if it tastes great, he will sell it. A shopkeeper in the most traditional sense, Ben’s is in his house everyday, championing his city and chatting with customers. Bored of places where nobody knows your name, Ben puts his name above the door: his house is your house.  And it’s a house filled with art too.