Healthy Eaters began life back in 2003, when Stafford Geohagen and his wife Rose served home-cooked Jamaican food at a market on Brixton Station Road.
A labour of love, Healthy Eaters has so far weathered the storm of gentrification that has swept through this part of London, as well as the pandemic that ground the world to a halt in 2020.
We caught up with Stafford during a busy lunchtime at the restaurant to hear about how it started and how it’s going…
You set up your Jamaican restaurant and takeaway business Healthy Eaters 20 years ago. What was the inspiration behind it?
I set up Healthy Eaters to do something collaborative with my wife Rose.
We began the business in 2003, having only entered the country in 1999. Cooking is my wife’s passion, and even though I couldn’t boil an egg at the time, I told her I was with her 100 per cent on it.
We knew we wanted to provide food and drink that a diverse community would regard as being a healthy, balanced diet.
We started off solely serving poultry, fish and vegetables, then later added more meat to the menu.
So it was a drive to run a shared business that led us to starting Healthy Eaters together.
How has the business evolved over the years?
My wife and I started out on Brixton Station Road as market traders.
Back in 2003, we cooked from our one-bedroom flat in Stockwell and took it to Brixton, where we sold on the streets for six years.
In 2009, we moved to Electric Avenue and since then, we’ve always offered an eat-in and a takeaway service.
Since the pandemic, we’ve moved into a new ground level space that can accommodate 40 covers.
Part of our reason for operating as a restaurant as well as a takeaway is to make sure we can showcase not only food and drink, but what we regard as an experience, providing the community with food, music and culture.
Why did you choose to base your business in Brixton?
Brixton was where our four parents had been based and it has one of the strongest Afro-Caribbean communities. Having recently entered the country, I wanted to align myself with people of my ethnicity and culture.
Has your menu changed much over the years?
My menu has changed somewhat due to the change in demographic of the area and of people’s tastes: you’ve got people who are vegetarian, people who are vegan, people who are meat lovers, and I wanted to shift the focus on what was originally Jamaican cuisine to make sure we were deep-rooted in all aspects of the local culture.
We serve hot food but we also make snacks and bake bread, and we want to see ourselves as a destination that curates and serves our community on a broad spectrum where food is regarded.
What are your most popular dishes?
It’s hard to give favourites, but jerk chicken probably sits at the top.
Below that, oxtail and curried goat would run for even places, then the national dish which is ackee and saltfish.
You can’t beat the classics!
Who’s in charge of the stoves at Healthy Eaters?
All the food is produced by the head chef, who is my wife, while I do my best to contribute until she runs me out of the kitchen for talking too much.
The prawns at Healthy Eaters
Your food can now be home-delivered via UberEats. Have you seen much of a difference in business?
Business has increased somewhat, but there’s not been a major difference. We like being able to cook for people who prefer to eat at home, however in my experience, most people prefer to come into the restaurant to eat.
What do you love most about running a food business in Brixton Market?
Making people happy.
The area around you must have changed a lot over the past two decades. Are there any stalwarts like yourself still doing business there?
Franco Manco, my neighbours, have been around since 1986 [the Brixton pizzeria was known as Franco’s until 2008].
I’ve got Danny’s greengrocers, which has been around for two decades as well.
Take us through what a typical working day looks like for you…
A working day starts at 4:35am, getting ready and coming to work. We put pots on the fire and cook up some sweet, sweet cuisine, which we serve at lunchtime, watching the feedback of smiles. The day ends by going to the bar at 8:30pm after work.
Lastly, you’ve got a big anniversary coming up… how do you plan to mark Healthy Eaters’ 20th birthday?
October 14 will mark 20 years since we’ve been looking after this community, to which we are extremely proud, and on the 14th, we’ll be saying thank you by hosting a session that will bring our community together through music, food and culture.
After this, we hope to continue living the experience.
Healthy Eaters, 17 Electric Avenue, London SW9 8JP.
Open daily, 10am – 6pm.
