UPDATE 22/10/2016: This venue is now closed. Kiosk has opened in the same space.
The historical records for Cobden Chambers, off Pelham Street, date back to 1801 – citing numerous name changes including Pelham Court, Pelham Place and Old Bath Yard. Steeped in history, the terraced properties that enclose the courtyard have housed an extensive variety of creative and independent businesses over the years, such as lace designers, milliners, dressmakers, watchmakers, wool merchants and photographers.
The most recent chapter in its history – after being derelict for over forty years – saw a prodigious renovation project: the buddleia jungle was shown the meaning of respect, generations of pigeons were evicted from their roosts and the space was reborn. The residents are still all well creative and it’s got a wicked community vibe.
Housed in the building directly facing you as you enter the courtyard, the Creative Occupations Bureau (COB) is a laid back cafe keeping folks fuelled with affordable meals using locally sourced ingredients throughout.
Hartland Pies of Cotgrave supply the, wait for it, pies. I had their pork, chicken and apricot variety – a winning combination of flavours – coupled with an epic scotch egg, fresh salad and a chutney lightly spiced with cinnamon (£6). My friend chose the tomato, basil and caramelised red onion bruschetta (£3.50), a selection of fresh, bright red tomatoes on a bed of soft sweet onions, with a generous amount of basil. The bread is noticeably high quality, supplied by the Small Food Bakery who are based at Primary Studios on Seely Road.
It’s a lovely venue for a coffee and slice of cake too, and you can peruse the arts and craft wares displayed in the space before you enter the cafe, where the light streams in through the original Georgian windows, warming the room on a cold February afternoon. We had an espresso (£1.50), beans provided by the cafe’s neighbours, Outpost Coffee, and an Earl Grey (£2) by Bluebird Tea Co, a company originally formed in Nottingham.
The guys at COB get involved in all sorts of cool projects too: partnering with Nutritional Resilience (another local business, obviously) to offer a healthy eating loyalty card (more salads = more points!), brain food workshops, discounts for self-employed and small businesses, minimising their waste using a wormery supplied by The Urban Worm and Hosta Consultancy (yes, you guessed it, two more local businesses). The transformation of Cobden Place has to be seen to be believed – check out the timelapse video on the Noshingham blog. Ash Dilks
Unit 5, Cobden Chambers, Pelham Street, NG1 2ED Creative Occupations Bureau on Facebook
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