Are you planning on meeting a friend for coffee but have no idea where to go? Finally have some free time on your hands and fancy a relaxing yoga class?
At 23-25 Brighton Road in Surbiton, Alcheme Wellbeing is Surbiton’s only cafe with an assisting gym and wellness centre.
To celebrate International Coffee Day on Friday 1st October, I had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver Palmer, a barista at Alcheme alongside his boss, Elizabeth Tilley, and his manager Jody.
Oliver and Elizabeth Tilley believe that the cafe’s focus on fitness and wellbeing sets Alcheme apart from the other artisan cafes along Surbiton High Street.
Alcheme is not ‘just another coffee shop’ Palmer states. ‘Customers can not only enjoy the healthy foods and delightful coffee but they can benefit greatly from joining the many fitness classes on offer. Having a gym and treatment room together with a cafe is what makes Alcheme unique amongst the other coffee shops around Surbiton.’
As a cafe, Alcheme is constantly updating its menu with new, nutritious dishes. ‘The cafe is constantly growing with the introduction of fruit and salad bowls. Our coffee is from a prize winning supplier, Bean Smitten, and there is a broad range of vegan options. Our menu continues to broaden.’ Liz Tilley explains.
This week the menu looks a little something like this:
Wraps and salad: Chicken and avocado salad wrap, Coronation Cauliflower wrap, vegan New Yorker with plant based salt beef, pea salad, Greek salad caesar salad
Popular juices: Detox Juice, Tropical cleanse juice
Snacks and cakes: vegan blueberry croissants, vegan sir choc-o-lot cake, lemon and blueberry sponge, and our Ultimate carrot cake.
The pesto, hummus and protein balls are all made from scratch so Palmer spends his quiet periods making new batches. ‘This, firstly, involves disposing of the old batches and marking it in the waste book. Then, prepping the ingredients and marking it in the stock check book. We then make fresh sauces and refill the containers, labelling them with expiration dates and allergen warnings.’
Health and wellness is at the forefront of Alcheme’s priorities. Every week it offers a new class for the general public to get involved with, such as, Vinyasa Flow yoga, box fit, mother and baby Pilates, pregnancy yoga, meditation, and Yin Yoga. In addition to this, there are many workshops provided, for example, Yoga by candlelight, conscious dance and meditation, and Mindful Strength.
If Oliver Palmer were to describe the ambience of the cafe in three words, it would be ‘warm’ ‘friendly’ and ‘charismatic’. He states that ‘no two days are the same at Alcheme’. Some days he is ‘practising latte art at every chance [he] gets if the day is super quiet’ and others he is ‘listening to the stories of our regular elderly customers’.
After Surbiton Festival (25th September 2021), the cafe doesn’t have anything big planned. During the festival, employees at Alcheme were immensely busy with handing out leaflets in shifts, providing tours of the space, trialling the new menu and offering free samples. ‘Even today we get customers coming in admitting that they heard about us from one of the leaflets we gave out a few weeks back.’ Palmer explains.
Alcheme Wellbeing looks forward to welcoming new customers into its ‘authentic and community driven space’. Why not ditch that same-old coffee date with a friend and join in with a yoga, strength and fitness or therapy class? The ‘Buddy Up’ package available at Alcheme allows you to book two places on classes or workshops for £19 (one for you at £18, and one for a friend at just £1). This is available for October 2021, and valid for six weeks from booking. So go on, buddy up! Click here to purchase the package.
After speaking with Oliver, I am well and truly sorted on where to head for my Friday coffee date with my mother. Head to Alcheme’s website to see what is on https://alcheme.co.uk/whats-on/ your next coffee date awaits..
